KUALA LUMPUR – DAP’s Wong Tack was offered the Cameron Highlands parliamentary seat to contest in the coming general election (GE15) but refused it, party secretary-general Anthony Loke Siew Fook.
The former Bentong MP will now be replaced in the seat he won in 2018 by Young Syefura Othman, and will not be contesting a federal seat in GE15.
Loke said he even discussed the Cameron Highlands offer with Wong for three hours last Sunday in an attempt to reach an agreement, but the latter ultimately decided not to contest.
Loke said DAP had to accept Wong’s decision and move on due to the short time left to coordinate seat negotiations with other Pakatan Harapan parties before GE15 is held. Nomination day is on November 5 and polling is on November 19.
Following Wong’ rejection of the Cameron Highlands seat, DAP will be fielding former Tanah Rata assemblyman Chiong Yoke Kong.
Loke acknowledged Wong’s contributions to the party and to Bentong, noting his strong advocacy on environmental issues, especially against the construction of the rare earth facility by Lynas near Kuantan.
“There are a lot of environmental issues (in Pahang) and that’s one of the reasons why we also suggested the Wong contest in Cameron Highlands, but he declined.
“But environmental issues are not dependent on one person. Our candidate (Chiong) for Cameron Highlands, for example, has been fighting very hard for the farmers there in the past few years. So, we have to go beyond any one individual,” Loke said in a press conference today.
In the last general election, Wong went up against MCA’s then-president Tan Sri Liow Tiong Lai and PAS’ Balasubramaniam Nachiapan.
Wong managed to pull an upset win against Liow with a 2,032-vote majority.
Loke today also announced that DAP deputy secretary-general Tengku Zulpuri Shah Raja Puji will be contesting the Lipis parliamentary seat while Chow Yu Hui will be fielded in Raub. – The Vibes, October 26, 2022
