KUALA LUMPUR – Ahead of nominations this Saturday, Perai in Penang has become the first seat in the six state elections next month that may see at a minimum, a four-cornered fight, following an unhappy David Marshel’s move to quit DAP and contest as an independent candidate.
Besides Marshel, other candidates announced so far are unity government candidate Sundarajoo Somu from DAP, Perikatan Nasional’s (PN) Sivasuntaram Rajalinggam from Gerakan, and Muda’s Vikneswary Harikrishnan.
These four candidates are election first-timers. Marshel, a former Seberang Prai councillor, is 47, while Muda’s Vikneswary is 36 and Sundarajoo is 61.
Candidates, however, will only be confirmed if they pass the nomination process with the Election Commission on Saturday.
The state polls for Penang, Kedah, Kelantan, Terengganu, Negri Sembilan, and Selangor will be held on August 12.
Unity government allies Pakatan Harapan (PH) and Barisan Nasional (BN) are expecting stiff competition from PN, which unexpectedly made inroads in the general election last November.
PH-BN would hope for straight fights against PN, but would have to face the possibility of split votes from Muda’s 20 candidates mainly in Selangor, the prized state that has been under a PH government since 2008.
Marshel, who had been in DAP for 15 years, quit the party yesterday, a day after the party announced its candidates for the polls in Penang.
In an emotional press conference this morning, he said decided to quit the party to “prevent” DAP chairman Lim Guan Eng from becoming chief minister again.
This is despite Lim being barred from the post after having served two terms, from 2008 to 2018, as Penang chief minister, in accordance with the state constitution that limits tenure for the post.
Lim is defending his Air Puteh state seat which he has held for three terms.
“I love this party, but I don’t love any leaders in the party, especially Lim, because he does not respect the grassroots,” Marshel, who was Kampung Jawa Autocity DAP branch chief, said in his press conference.
Perai was held for three terms by caretaker Penang deputy chief minister II P. Ramasamy, who was dropped from the candidates’ list. Marshel was a close aide of Ramasamy’s.
Ramasamy has defended Perai, which has a large population of Chinese (over 50%) and Indian voters (over 30%) in each election with a big margin of votes.
Marshel had earlier warned that dropping Ramasamy might see DAP members quit the party as he had strong support from Perai voters and the Indian community. – The Vibes, July 27, 2023
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