Johor polls: Incumbent Skudai rep claims he won't be allowed to defend seat

KLUANG: Skudai incumbent assemblyman Tan Hong Pin claims that his name has been dropped from the list of DAP candidates to contest in the upcoming Johor election.

Tan said that he was informed of the decision following a meeting with Johor DAP chief Liew Chin Tong in Kuala Lumpur last week.

He said that he was instead offered to contest in the Labis parliamentary seat in the next general election.

"The power is not in my hands, it's in the leaders' hands. I'm prepared for the worst-case scenario," he said when met in Kluang after attending a ceremony to announce two Pakatan Harapan candidates for the state polls.

Asked if he was prepared to contest in Labis in the next general election, he said that he still has time to decide on the matter.

"It is not something that I need to decide now. It would be months before it happens (general election).

"By then, the strategy may change again. I don't want to tie anyone's hands," he said.

It was reported on Jan 31 that Tan and incumbent Bentayan assemblyman Ng Yak Howe had informed Liew of their wish to defend their respective state seats in the coming Johor polls.

Earlier, some 59 DAP branches and seven of the party's youth division had also issued a statement urging the party to maintain its incumbent assemblymen.

The group claimed that they have learned that half of the 14 assemblymen that had previously won GE14 in Johor would not be defending their seats in the upcoming Johor polls.

Tan had led one of the two factions looking to remove Liew from the state party chief post in the hotly contested Johor DAP polls in May 2021.

However, Liew came out as a clear winner, retaining his position at the state party elections, which saw his faction winning 10 of the 15 committee seats and then sweeping the leadership portfolios.