GEORGE TOWN – The Gerakan leadership has expressed confidence that Perikatan Nasional can fare well in the coming six-state elections.
This is based on the feedback and warmth PN has received when its members have gone to the ground in meet-the-people sessions, said Gerakan president Datuk Dominic Lau.
The six states that will see polling on August 12 are Penang, Kedah, Selangor, Negri Sembilan, Kelantan, and Terengganu. Nominations take place this Saturday.
Lau, who is slated to contest the Bayan Lepas seat in Penang, claimed at a press conference here that people are openly coming up to representatives of Gerakan to express support for the party and its candidates here.
Gerakan is a component of PN alongside Bersatu and PAS.
Asked if Gerakan is more confident than ever because its main rival DAP, which leads the Pakatan Harapan (PH)-Barisan Nasional (BN) alliance in the state, is embroiled in some disputes over their candidates list, Lau replied that the matters does not interest Gerakan.
“We are only to focus on our candidates and how we can win,” he said.
He also dismissed claims that he was given an easy seat to win because the Malay voting group is the dominant one at Bayan Lepas.
Asked about the protest by PAS, which had wanted to contest there, Lau said that there was miscommunication and the matter would be dealt with internally.
“We are a non-ethnic party so we do not dwell on race issues. We remain loyal to our founding principles of (being) a multi-ethnic party,” said Hoe.
Lau is expected to square off against the hardworking PH incumbent Azrul Mahathir Aziz.
Gerakan has announced that it will contest 19 state seats in Penang out of the 36 in total throughout the states involved..
It will run for three seats in Kedah and the remainder in Selangor and Negri Sembilan.
Among the notable candidates contesting are party veteran H’ng Khoon Leng, who is making a third attempt to unseat the Padang Kota incumbent and Penang DAP chairman Chow Kon Yeow. Chow has been chief minister since 2018.
Besides Lau fighting in Bayan Lepas, his deputy Oh Tong Keong will take up the race for the second time in Pantai Jerejak.
Gerakan vice-president Baljit Singh is expected to contest the Bukit Tengah state seat where in the “battle of lawyers” he is likely to face off against the incumbent from PH, Gooi Hsiao Leung.
Former Gerakan Youth head H’ng Chee Wey is making a third attempt in Tg Bungah.
He is facing the incumbent Zairil Khir Johari from PH.
Lau said that the campaign strategy is two-pronged – to ensure a personal touch and to tell voters the “truth” about the state of neglect in Penang since DAP has overstayed as the government.
He also said that Gerakan is eager to play a check-and-balance role in the state.
Meanwhile, PN secretary-general Datuk Seri Hamzah Zainuddin is visiting Penang tomorrow to help prepare the machinery for nominations on Saturday. – The Vibes, July 27, 2023
