However, Rafizi said party president Anwar Ibrahim had a different view on the matter.

“The party’s candidate committee and I had suggested that Sivarasa be retained because of his track record in the constituency.

“But ultimately, the final decision lies with Anwar,” he said at a press conference at the PKR headquarters here today.

Sivarasa won the Sungai Buloh seat in the last general election in 2018 with a 26,634- vote majority against PAS’ Nuridah Salleh.

PKR has replaced Sivarasa with former MIC treasurer-general R Ramanan as its candidate for the constituency in GE15.

Rafizi said PKR had conducted a thorough internal process to choose its candidates, adding that party members and grassroots must move on rather than dwell on the names that had been dropped.

PKR had drawn flak for dropping former MPs like Sivarasa and Maria Chin Abdullah, who was Petaling Jaya MP before Parliament’s dissolution. Analysts warned that this move could plunge the party into crisis and leave its supporters disillusioned.

Former PKR vice-president Tian Chua had also expressed disappointment with the decision not to include the former MPs in GE15.

He warned that “shuffling MPs and seats like cards” would hurt the party’s grassroots and frustrate voters who supported PKR and their elected representatives.

Apart from Maria and Sivarasa, Johari Abdul (Sungai Petani), Natrah Ismail (Sekijang), June Leow (Hulu Selangor), Tan Yee Kiew (Wangsa Maju), Dr Lee Boon Chye (Gopeng), and Chan Ming Kai (Alor Setar) will also not be defending their seats for PKR.

It is understood that Lee and Tan had informed the party they planned to retire from politics.

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