Gerakan banking on good looks to win votes

KULAI: Good looks will be a key factor in the selection of candidates for Gerakan in the Johor election, says party president Datuk Dr Dominic Lau.

He said Gerakan wants to field “likeable” candidates who could win, and who could attract voters through their photos and posters with the expectation that the election’s strict standard operating procedure may limit efforts by the candidates to meet people on the ground.

“We want to field candidates who can woo voters into supporting Perikatan Nasional.

“By likeable, we also mean that the candidates must be good-looking and attractive enough to be able to win the people’s hearts through their photographs.

“We know that the SOP will be tight in this election and our candidates may not be able to meet and greet people on the ground.

“We will be depending on their photos which we will post on social media. So, looks will be an important factor in this election,” he after attending the Kulai Gerakan division Chinese New Year dinner at a restaurant here in Kelapa Sawit, Kulai, on Friday.

Apart from looks, Lau said that the candidates must have moral virtues and not be involved in any criminal or corruption cases.

He said Gerakan would be contesting up to 10 seats in the election.

“In GE14, we contested two state seats and one parliamentary seat. In this election, we will be getting more seats,” he said, adding that the exact numbers would be announced by Perikatan chairman Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin soon.

In GE14, Gerakan, then under Barisan Nasional, contested and lost in the Bukit Batu and Pemanis state seats as well as the Simpang Renggam parliamentary seat.

Asked whether Gerakan would contest in the Bukit Batu and Pemanis seats again, Lau said it hoped so.

He said the party hopes to also contest in Skudai and Pekan Nenas.