JOHOR BARU: Johor PKR will mobilise its party members to assist in Bersih 2.0's online Simulated Recall Election (SREL).

       State PKR deputy chairman Jimmy Puah Wee Tse said the party has given its support to the election watchdog’s “Sack or Keep” campaign to remove Tebrau MP Steven Choong through SREL.

       "We take note of the simulation exercise, which would kick off in P158 Tebrau, a Parliament constituency won by us in the last general election until our MP defected to support the current Perikatan Nasional government in February this year.

       "For us, incumbent Tebrau MP Steven Choong's defection is tantamount to a betrayal of the people’s mandate and greatly disappoints many.

       "We fully support this great initiative by Bersih 2.0, which seek not only to restore the voters’ faith in our democracy and electoral but also serve as a warning mechanism to any elected representatives that any treacherous intention on their part will be met with severe consequences from their constituents," he said in a statement here on Saturday (June 26).

       Puah added that he hopes the exercise would be replicated and adopted by future governments to hold elected representatives accountable.

       "We are fully committed to this exercise and will mobilise our party members to assist in the same.

       "We hope the exercise in Tebrau will be one of many to come and that its success can be replicated and even adopted by future governments as a means to hold elected representatives accountable to their voters and ultimately provide greater stability to our political landscape," he said.

       In a statement on Friday (June 25), Bersih 2.0 said that Choong would be the first target of the "Sack or Keep" campaign.

       "Bersih 2.0 has been contacted by Johor PKR, indicating their party’s interest to participate in our online SREL to remove Tebrau MP Steven Choong who announced on Feb 28, 2021, his departure from PKR to be an independent MP supporting the Perikatan Nasional government of Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin," it said in a statement.

       Bersih chairperson Thomas Fann was quoted by Malaysiakini as saying that a recall election is an electoral mechanism that allows voters to petition for a mid-term election to try and remove or sack the elected representative of their constituency if they are unhappy with the actions or performance of that person.

       On Feb 28, Choong announced his departure from PKR to be an independent MP supporting the Perikatan government.