JOHOR BARU: Despite indicating that they will be contesting two seats in Johor, no Parti Bangsa Malaysia (PBM) candidates have filed their names for any of the 26 parliamentary seats in Johor on Nomination Day.
Datuk Seri Dr Edmund Santhara Kumar, who was expected to defend his Segamat seat under the PBM ticket, was not present at the nomination centre on Saturday (Nov 5).
In reply to the media, Santhara said that his team would still be serving the people of the constituency as a non-governmental organisation (NGO).
"I apologise to the people of Segamat if I have disappointed them as an MP, especially when I supported Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamed and Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin as Prime Ministers.
"I did so based on the situation at that time and to best serve the people, as well as ensure projects in Segamat are carried out successfully.
"I am confident that the next MP will serve the people of Segamat, despite coming from another party," he said.
However, he did not explain his reason for backing out from the race.
Meanwhile, incumbent Tebrau MP Steven Choong, who was also expected to defend his seat had on Friday (Nov 4) night announced that he would not be contesting.
"I thank the party leadership, the Tebrau grassroots and many supporters who wished that I would contest in GE15 but after careful consideration, I have decided not to do so in order to focus on my new tasks.
"I have embarked on a doctoral program that will take four to five years to complete. I also need time to help build up the party and grassroots.
"All the above need my personal commitments and will literally leave me with little time to effectively serve the people," he said in a Facebook post here.
Earlier, Choong said that the party would be contesting in the Tebrau and Segamat seat in GE15.
The party had also bought at least seven nomination papers from the Election Commission (EC) ahead of Nomination Day.
