KUALA LUMPUR: PKR president Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim said Tian Chua has been sacked for his insistence on running in the Batu parliamentary constituency for the 15th General Election (GE15)

The long-time party member submitted his nomination papers to contest in Batu as an independent, running against Pakatan Harapan’s (PH) pick P. Prabakaran and eight others.

Anwar said he views Tian Chua as a reformist and an asset to PKR, but he shouldn’t have gone against party policy.

"It is unfortunate that Tian Chua has chosen this path," Anwar told reporters outside the Tambun nomination centre in Perak. “He has conviction but I don’t  think this is what a reformist should do.”

"We have to take necessary action. According to policy, normally, those who contest as independents or leave the party for whatever reason will be sacked."

Tian Chua is contesting the seat as an independent after he was dropped by the party in favour of
Prabakaran. He was the Batu MP from 2008 to 2018, but the former PKR vice-president failed to defend his seat in the last general election after being disqualified on nomination day.

He lost to Prabakaran in the fight for the Batu division chief position in the party’s 2022 polls.

READ MORE: Ten-way battle for Batu in GE15