KLANG – DAP has no qualms about not participating in the Nenggiri by-election next month, and the Pakatan Harapan (PH) component member is prepared to deploy its machinery only if requested, said party secretary-general Anthony Loke.
Loke, who is also transport minister, said this in response to Gua Musang Umno chief Tan Sri Tengku Razaleigh Tengku Mohd Hamzah’s assertion that DAP is “not needed” to campaign for the Kelantan state seat that is contested by Umno.
“Our (DAP’s) stance is simple: if we’re needed (at an election), we will go and help. If our help isn’t needed, we won’t go.
“If we’re needed at any by-election, we will go on the ground,” Loke told reporters after a working visit to the LRT3 project site at the Pasar Jawa station, here.
Asserting that DAP’s help has managed to sway voters towards unity government candidates, Loke pointed to the previous Pelangai by-election in October last year after its assemblyman Datuk Seri Johari Harun died in the Elmina plane crash.
“In Pelangai, (DAP) was tasked with several district voting centres and we delivered votes for the Barisan Nasional (BN) candidate in areas such as Chinese villages where BN previously lost.
“Together with BN’s machinery, we helped the BN candidate win.”
Previously, Tengku Razaleigh, who is also known as Ku Li, said there is “no need” for DAP’s presence in the Nenggiri by-election set for August 17 as the area is a “100% Malay constituency”.
He added that while it is “unnecessary” to stop DAP leaders – a majority of whom are non-Malays – from coming to the area, there is no need for the party to show up.
The Nenggiri seat was declared vacant due to Bersatu assemblyman Mohd Azizi Abu Naim’s decision to support the government.
While Bersatu had previously confirmed that its candidate would contest for the seat under the PAS logo, Umno had picked its Kelantan youth chief Mohd Azmawi Fikri Abdul Ghani as the party’s candidate.
During the state election in August last year, Azizi’s majority of 810 votes saw him win the seat in a straight fight against BN’s Ab Aziz Yusoff. – July 29, 2024