GEORGE TOWN – Penang Barisan Nasional (BN) has submitted its list of parliamentary candidates for the 15th general election (GE15) to the coalition’s central leadership, said state BN chairman Datuk Musa Sheikh Fadzir.
He said the state BN has also sent the list of state assembly candidates to the central leadership following Penang DAP’s proposal that the Penang assembly be dissolved in line with the dissolution of Parliament, in order to hold the state election concurrent with GE15.
“We are also waiting for the Penang government’s decision as to whether the state assembly is dissolved to pave the way for the general election to be held simultaneously with Parliament, and if the state assembly is not dissolved, the machinery will focus on Parliamentary seats only,” he said when contacted today.
Yesterday, DAP secretary-general Anthony Loke said Penang DAP had proposed that the Penang assembly be dissolved, adding that the matter will be discussed at a Pakatan Harapan presidential council meeting.
Musa, who is also the Penang Umno liaison board chairman, said 60% of the Umno candidates submitted to the leadership were new faces.
In GE14, Penang BN contested in 40 state seats and 13 parliamentary seats – with Gerakan contesting in 13 state seats and four parliamentary seats, Umno (15 state seats, five parliamentary seats), MCA (10 state states, four parliamentary seats), while MIC contested in two state seats.
On June 23, 2018, Gerakan officially quit BN following the coalition’s GE14 defeat and joined Perikatan Nasional in February last year. – Bernama, October 12, 2022
