Parti Sosialis Malaysia (PSM) awaiting approval from Pakatan Rakyat

KUALA LUMPUR: Parti Sosialis Malaysia, which is awaiting approval to be a part of the opposition pact, said the matter will not stop it from forming an electoral alliance with DAP, PAS and PKR.

“We verbally voiced our decision to join the opposition pact last June and submitted a formal notice of our intention in Septem­ber.

“We are still waiting for a response,” PSM secretary-general S. Arutchelvan said at a press conference here yesterday.

He also unveiled the party’s election manifesto.

Arutchelvan said the party would continue to support the opposition pact in the polls and would also try to avoid multi-cornered fights.

In 2008, PSM contested in the Sungai Siput parliamentary and Jelapang state seats in Perak as well as the Kota Damansara and Semenyih state seats in Selangor.

PSM central committee member Dr D. Michael Jeyakumar won in Sungai Siput while party national chairman Dr Mohd Nasir Hashim won in Kota Damansara.

The party lost in Jelapang in a three-cornered fight that also involved DAP and Barisan Nasional.

Winning DAP candidate Datuk Hee Yit Foong, however, quit the party in 2009 and became a Barisan-friendly independent assemblyman.

She is currently the Perak state assembly deputy speaker.