State polls: DAP to bring up incumbent seat swaps with Barisan at Pakatan presidential meet, says Loke

KUALA LUMPUR: The terms set for the exchange of incumbent seats between Pakatan Harapan and Barisan Nasional for the six upcoming state elections will be raised during the Pakatan Harapan presidential council meeting next week, says Anthony Loke.

The DAP secretary-general said DAP was not involved in the decision to field a Barisan candidate for the party’s incumbent seat in Dusun Tua for the Selangor state election on Aug 12.

Loke said the party will comply with the decision made by Pakatan chairman Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.

"Yes, of course our grassroots are not satisfied, the party leadership is also upset with the decision but the final decision has already been made.

"We will discuss this matter during the Pakatan presidential council meet on Monday (July 24), there may be conditions that were set for the exchange of incumbents seats," he said in a press conference after launching the Malaysian Driving Institute Association (Pima) 23rd annual general assembly at Ibis Hotel here on Saturday (July 22).

Anthony added that the Dusun Tua state assembly seat was among the seats in the negotiations between Pakatan and Barisan for the Selangor election but DAP was not part of the decision-making process.

"That was one of the deadlocked seats during the negotiations, the party did not give away the seat but it was decided by both the chairmen of Pakatan and Barisan," he said.

On Friday (July 21), Barisan chairman Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi announced that the party will only contest 12 state assembly seats in Selangor.

For the Dusun Tua seat, Barisan is fielding Datuk Johan Abd Aziz while Selangor Umno chairman Datuk Megat Zulkarnain Omardin will contest in Gombak Setia.

In the 14th General Election (GE14), the Dusun Tua state seat was won by Edry Faizal Eddy Yusof from DAP with a majority of 10,422 votes against Mohd Zin (Barisan) and Razaly Hassan (PAS) while the Gombak Setia seat was won by Hilman Idham from PKR, who later left the party to join Bersatu.

The Selangor state assembly has 56 seats, with the incumbent majority held by Pakatan with 40 seats (PKR-19, DAP-15, Amanah-six) while Barisan has six seats.

Loke also reminded candidates from the Pakatan Harapan component party that victory or defeat depends on the voters.

“While we are confident the party can win, especially in our incumbent seats, I would like to remind them that we must work hard during the campaigning period to convince the voters.

"No matter what, our leaders and candidates must be humble and not be arrogant, this is the most important advice I want to convey to all candidates.

"Never be overconfident because in this election anything can happen, especially during the two weeks of campaigning," he said.

Loke said this when asked to comment on DAP's confidence in defending seats it previously held in next month's state polls.

When asked about the list of candidates to contest in the six states, Loke said DAP is expected to make an announcement in two or three days.

Recently, Penang DAP chairman Chow Kon Yeow said that the list of Penang DAP candidates who will contest had been submitted to the party's secretary-general for the final selection.