DAP’s Er Teck Hwa not defending Bakri seat in GE14

KUALA LUMPUR: Bakri MP Er Teck Hwa will not be defending his parliamentary seat in the 14th general election.

The DAP lawmaker stressed that he is not being pressured by the party’s leadership into pulling out from the coming polls.

“I want to stress that I received no pressure from anyone. I want to make way for a more suitable candidate,” he told a press conference at the Parliament lobby on Thursday (May 22).

Er, the two-term incumbent of the Bakri seat, said he will not contest in any other parliamentary or state seats in the coming polls unless DAP’s central leadership asks him to do so.

“I’m from Bakri, Muar and I really like this place, so I won’t contest in any other areas unless there’s a request from the party,” he added.

Er also thanked DAP for giving him the opportunity to stand in the Bakri seat.

“I want to apologise to anyone if I wasn’t polite or well-spoken. I hope voters in Bakri will be able to give full support to the next candidate that will be chosen by DAP to contest the seat,” he added.

Er said he will also lend a helping hand to Pakatan Harapan’s political campaigns in the coming polls.

“I will try my best to help Pakatan Harapan and DAP because this is my responsibility,” he added.

Er first won the Bakri seat in the 2008 elections when he defeated MCA candidate Tay Puan Chuan by a 21,051 majority.

He also won the seat during the 2013 polls against MCA’s Lee Ching Yong with a bigger majority of 31,118.

Last week, Damansara Utama assemblyman Yeo Bee Yin said she will not defend her state seat and will instead contest a parliamentary seat in the coming polls.

Speculation has been rife that Yeo is set to contest the Bakri seat in GE14.