GEORGE TOWN – Could some incumbents lose the opportunity to defend their seats in the coming state elections?
This could be a possibility if remarks by Penang Pakatan Harapan (PH) chairman Chow Kon Yeow are to be considered.
Chow said incumbency will not be the deciding factor when selecting the national unity candidates for the coming state elections here.
For the coming state election, PH and Barisan Nasional (BN) will join forces to contest in Penang.
Chow said PH and its partner BN have agreed in principle to look beyond incumbency.
“We are now open to exploring some alternatives. We can now look beyond the incumbency,” the chief minister told a press conference here yesterday.
Chow declined to elaborate further when pressed for details and asked if this would mean possible seat swaps between PH and BN.
Earlier, Chow was reported as saying that PH had agreed that it will allow the incumbent parties to contest in each of the 40 state seats up for grabs.
Currently, Penang PH and BN hold 35 out of the 40 state seats, while opposition Perikatan Nasional (PN) has one seat, courtesy of PAS.
The remaining four seats are now vacant after the incumbents were relieved of their seats for defying the anti-hopping state legislation.
Chow said history was made where for the first time in over 20 years, both PH and BN through Umno met formally in Penang yesterday.
Chow led the Penang PH delegation while Umno was represented by its state liaison committee chairperson Datuk Seri Musa Sheikh Fadzir.
Chow said that both sides agreed that the ultimate aim is to deliver a resounding victory for the partnership of BN and PH in the coming election.
“This is our main goal: a strong win for us to reflect our diverse background here,” Chow said. – The Vibes, May 2, 2023
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