JOHOR BAHARU, Feb 15 – DAP and Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) continue to be at loggerheads over which party is more eligible to put a candidate for the Gelang Patah parliamentary seat in the 13th General Election (GE).
The Johor PKR, which contested for the seat in the 2004 and 2008 GE, is adamant that its candidate continue fighting for the seat, only to face opposition from the DAP.
The DAP wants a rotation system in which the party will be given a chance to contest for the Gelang Patah seat in the coming GE, as the PKR was given the opportunity to contest the seat for the past two general elections.
According to Johor DAP chairman Dr Boo Cheng Hau, the final decision on which party will contest for the seat will be determined by leaders of the opposition coalition.
On a statement by a DAP leader that Bukit Bendera Member of Parliament, Liew Chin Tong, would be nominated as a candidate for the Gelang Patah seat, Dr Boo, who is Skudai assemblyman, declined comment.
However, his comment through Twitter recently stated that Liew was a young and energetic policy-maker who should be given a chance to contest.
Liew’s nomination as a DAP candidate in Gelang Patah was announced by DAP deputy chairman Tan Kok Wai recently. Dr Boo said the Gelang Patah parliamentary seat traditionally belonged to the DAP, but was given to PKR before DAP joined with PKR under a rotation system.
“We only let go of the seat (Gelang Patah) in 1995, out of respect for former Johor Parti Rakyat Malaysia chief and former Johor PKR chief Abdul Razak Ahmad,” he told Bernama here today.
The Gelang Patah parliamentary seat was returned to the DAP after the 1999 General Election. However, PKR was entrusted with the seat in 2004 and 2008 under the rotation system .
During the 2008 General Election, BN candidate Tan Ah Heng defeated PKR candidate Dr Zaliha Mustafa by 8,851 votes. The Gelang Patah constituency has two state assembly seats, namely Skudai and Nusajaya.
Meanwhile, Johor PKR chairman Datuk Chua Jui Meng kept mum when contacted on DAP’s decision to place Liew as a candidate in Gelang Patah.
“Let them (DAP). They can say anything, it is a democratic country. This issue (Gelang Patah seat) will be determined by the coalition leaders,” he said.
PKR deputy secretary-general Steven Choong, who is also state PKR election director, also declined to comment on Liew’s nomination. He said the opposition leaders had yet to make a decision on which party would place its candidate for the Gelang Patah seat.
BERNAMA
