KUALA LUMPUR: Gerakan has positioned Penang as the “front state” and the “winning” strategy to return to Parliament and the state assembly in the 15th General Election (GE15), says party president Datuk Dr Dominic Lau.
He said he does not intend to contest for a parliamentary seat in GE15 but would contest at the state level and lead the election machinery when the state assembly is dissolved.
“I have often emphasised that I will not contest for a parliamentary seat in GE15 because I want to contest in the Penang state assembly and lead the Perikatan Nasional election machinery in the state if it is dissolved,” he said.
“Penang is also the starting point of Gerakan and I am a native of the state,” he told a press conference yesterday, reported Bernama.
The Penang state assembly was not dissolved this time following the decision by Pakatan Harapan’s presidential council not to do so for the three states ruled by the coalition, namely Penang, Selangor and Negri Sembilan.
For GE15, Lau said that Gerakan will contest 20 parliamentary seats and 14 state seats under Perikatan, as well as feature 26 new faces.
He said a total of 14 Gerakan candidates are aged 45 and below. The youngest candidate is 25-year-old Pang Boon Yan, who will contest the Canning state seat in Perak.
He said Perikatan’s main strategy in GE15 is to focus on new voters, namely Undi18.
