JOHOR BAHARU, April 3 – After squabbling over the Gelang Patah parliamentary seat, Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) and the DAP are scrambling for Johor Jaya, a Chinese-majority state constituency. While Johor PKR named its legal bureau chief, Jimmy Puah as the candidate for Johor Jaya on Saturday, DAP adviser Lim Kit Siang announced DAPSY assistant publicity secretary, Liow Cai Tung, 27, as a suitable candidate for the seat yesterday.
“Johor PKR will defend its rights to stand in Johor Jaya since the seat was allocated to Parti Rakyat Malaysia (PRM) (which had since merged with Parti Keadilan Nasional to form the PKR) in the 2008 general election.
“We learned that the opposition top leadership has allocated Johor Jaya and Tangkak state seats, and the Segamat parliamentary seat to Johor PKR in exchange for Gelang Patah for DAP. Johor Jaya was given to me and it is ours,” Puah told Bernama today.
PRM candidate Md Nasir Ab Wahab lost in Johor Jaya to Barisan Nasional’s Tan Cher Puk by a 10,488-vote majority.
On the possibility of a three-corner contest in Johor Jaya, Puah said Johor PKR would try to avoid it in the spirit of the opposition pact, but would defend its rights. Following the feud between Johor PKR and DAP for Gelang Patah, PKR adviser Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim recently announced that Kit Siang would contest the parliamentary seat although it was allocated to the PKR in 2008.
BERNAMA
