PKR vice-president Nurul Izzah Anwar said today Maria was now part of the PKR family.
“A seat has been allocated (for her). We welcome her to the family. She has decided to contest under the PKR logo,” said Nurul at a press conference today at the PKR headquarters.
However, Maria has not signed on to become a PKR member. She is leaving it to PKR to decide which seat she should contest.
The announcement puts to rest speculation as to which party Maria would contest under after she announced her decision to quit Bersih on March 4, saying she intended to enter the political arena.
At the press conference, Maria thanked PKR for welcoming her into its family, saying: “I will do my best to advance the reform agenda. It is time to recognise the country’s need for change.”
Maria added that she did not join the Barisan Nasional as it was not in line with her reform agenda.
“I support the Pakatan Harapan manifesto because of its promised electoral reforms, environmental protection, and gender equality, among others,” she said.
She said she would allow PKR to decide which seat she should contest. It has been speculated that Maria would replace either PKR vice-president Tian Chua in the Batu parliamentary constituency or his party colleague, Hee Loy Sian, in Petaling Jaya Selatan.
“The most important thing is that we should be able to move forward the reform agenda and stop unfair electoral boundary redelineations,” she said.
Bersih, which is fighting the current redelineation exercise which it says is unfair and undemocratic, had earlier clarified that Maria’s move into politics was not a betrayal of Bersih as she had resigned from the watchdog to take Bersih’s agenda to the Dewan Rakyat.
Also present at the press conference were Ampang MP Zuraida Kamaruddin, Tian Chua, Subang MP R Sivarasa and PH chief secretary Saifuddin Abdullah.
Zuraida said Maria’s involvement in politics would boost women’s empowerment efforts.