PARTI Sosialis Malaysia (PSM) is offering voters an alternative to choose for the upcoming state polls despite being the underdogs in the contest.

PSM deputy chairman S. Arutchelvam said he was aware his party could suffer huge defeats to Pakatan Harapan and Barisan Nasional, and Perikatan Nasional.

Nonetheless, Arutchelvam told The Malaysian Insight his party would remain true to its core principles and campaign on people-oriented issues such as affordable housing, the minimum wage and the environment.

“All our candidates will have to declare their assets and sign an anti-racism pledge. We are offering a new narrative that is anti-racist and people-oriented.

“Our issues are about the minimum wage, affordable housing and environmental protection,” he said in an interview.

PSM has named its secretary-general Sivarajan Arumugam as the candidate for the Kota Damansara seat, mathematics professor Dr Darren Ong Chung Lee as its candidate for Dengkil and Sivaranjani Manickam for the Meru state seat.

Arutchelvam said the party will also announce more names in the coming days, and hinted that he may stand in the election.

The veteran activist did not divulge which seat he would contest.

On whether he was afraid that PSM candidates would not win enough votes to be refunded their deposits, he said election bigwigs such as Dr Mahathir Mohamad had lost his deposit in his stronghold in Langkawi in the last general election.

“PH candidates also lost their deposits on the east coast. We are not too concerned about it. PSM is known for our ground work. Many think that we are an NGO because we solve issues.

“The press love us because we offer something different. Our media statement is carried by many news outlets so we are not demotivated,” he added.

PSM won the Sungai Siput parliamentary seat in 2008 when Dr Michael Jeyakumar Devaraj defeated then MIC president S. Samy Vellu, who had served as its for eight terms since 1974.

Michael kept the seat in 2013 but lost to PKR’s Kesavan Subramaniam in 2018.

Former PSM chairman Dr Nasir Hashim was the Kota Damansara assemblyman in Selangor. 

Winning Malay support

On how PSM planned to win Malay votes, Arutchelvam said PSM has built a base in each of the seats that it is contesting.

“If we don’t have a strong base or have not done any work in an area, we will not contest there. Take Meru, for example. We have been addressing several issues there and we have a permanent office in Meru.

“The candidate we choose has worked in the area for a period of two years. Look at the issues that PN and PH are playing, they are almost the same. We push a lot for workers’ rights and the Malay workforce.”

He noted that PSM has more ground work to do, especially in the Malay heartland.

On the government’s anti-corruption efforts, Arutchelvam said there is a lot of rhetoric.

“People voted against Umno because Umno is corrupt. DAP veteran Lim Kit Siang said it was the green wave (growing support for PN) but in reality it was not. 

“It was the people going against corruption. Malays do not want a corrupt party,” he added.

Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim is an advocate for clean governance but has had to accept Umno as a unity coalition partner. Several Umno leaders such as Ahmad Zahid Hamidi are facing dozens of corruption charges. – July 19, 2023.