KUALA LUMPUR: Independent candidate for Batu parliamentary seat Tian Chua said he would rather take the risk to prove his own ability than to let Parti Keadilan Rakyat start the “backdoor” culture of Barisan Nasional because of him.

He said although Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim had earlier told him he would be appointed a minister through some arrangement after Pakatan Harapan wins the 15th general election, he said he did not want the latter to start such a precedent.

Tian Chua told Sin Chew Daily this afternoon while campaigning in Sentul, “This will only make us Barisan-ized in embracing backdoor culture, because their component parties never proved themselves by winning the election, only waited to be appointed government posts after the coalition took over the administration.

“We used to ridicule BN for going backdoor. I don’t want us to go the way we used to despise.

“So I rather take the risk to prove my worth and build my own support base.”

Meanwhile, Chua also explained that he proclaimed that he had signed the statutory declaration to support Anwar as prime minister not because he wanted to woo the voters’ support, but to rebut his slanderers and avert misunderstanding.

“The declaration shows that I’m firmly on PH’s side and will never betray the coalition.”

He revealed that Anwar had told him he felt embarrassed with him standing as an independent candidate, and that it was impossible for the party president to openly support him, adding that Anwar hoped he would continue to stay in the big family of PH.

“I told him I could assure him that.

“This was the exact message I conveyed to him.”