SENTUL - "Between being with the people of Batu or obeying the party's instructions, I choose to be with the people," said the Independent candidate for the Batu parliamentary seat, Tian Chua.
According to him, he had to disobey the party's instructions because he was bound by the promise of the people of Batu to return to contest in the 15th General Election (GE15).
He said, the dismal episode in GE14 caused his name to drop out from contesting but he never lost his desire to serve the people of Batu.
"I don't know what can be done at that time (GE14). I feel like I betrayed the trust of Batu voters who expected to support Pakatan Harapan (PH) to topple BN.
"At that time I had no other choice and made a decision no matter what, I could not give an easy victory to the opponent," he said at the Ceramah Kelompok at Perumahan Awam Sri Perak on Friday.
The former vice president of the Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) said that he, who did not know the other candidates at the time, chose the young candidate, P Prabakaran who contested on the Independent ticket to take over his temporary duties.
"I have negotiated with him to take over the position temporarily to continue the people's desire to reject BN. That is why I promoted him to a member of Parliament.
"At that time, I also promised that I would not leave Batu even if I was not elected. Because many people did not know Prabakaran, I convinced the voters to give Prabakaran a shot. Support him as how they supported me and I will return in GE15," he explained.
He hoped voters will understand that his action to turn his back on the party and run as an Independent candidate was not because of greed for power or a big salary but because of a promise to the people that needs to be reinforced.
"What happens if I am an Independent Member of Parliament (MP)? I may be an Independent MP but I will not be free from responsibility and demands from the people. I will still abide by my principles and continue to support policies that benefit the people. I will remain vocal.
"This is a responsibility that I have to shoulder because when I enter the Parliament, I will make sure that the principle does not change. I will still reject the deviant kleptocrats and will be the voice of the people of Batu," he said.
Tian Chua will contest in a 10-cornered fight including against PH candidate Prabakaran who is also the former Batu member of parliament after winning with a majority of 24,438 votes in GE14.