KUALA LUMPUR: Ahead of Perikatan Nasional’s supreme council meeting on Monday, Gerakan has announced that it wants to contest again for the Kuala Kubu Baharu seat in the coming by-election next month.
Gerakan president Datuk Dr Dominic Lau said the matter was decided by the party’s central committee members.
“We decided that Gerakan will ‘defend’ the Kuala Kubu Baharu seat and we will relay this decision to the Perikatan supreme council meeting on Monday (April 22).
“We will inform the Perikatan chairman about this decision where we will ‘defend’ the Kuala Kubu Baharu seat,” said Lau during a press conference held at Gerakan’s headquarters in Menara PGRM on Saturday (April 20).
“Whether or not the candidate is from Gerakan, we will campaign our best to ensure victory for Perikatan,” added Lau.
The Kuala Kubu Baharu seat was held by DAP since 2013 and in the last state election, Gerakan’s Teoh Kien Hong lost the seat by a 4,119 vote majority.
Earlier Saturday (April 20), PAS secretary-general Datuk Seri Takiyuddin Hassan said the Perikatan Supreme Council meeting will take place in Kuala Lumpur at 5pm on Monday.
Takiyuddin said all Perikatan parties were told to submit their proposed candidates for the Kuala Kubu Baharu by-election on May 11.
Lau said Gerakan has more than one candidate, adding that the party also has an upper hand in the by-election as it contested the seat during the six state elections last year.
“Locals and voters here know our previous candidate and secondly, even though we lost the seat in the last state elections, we had never shut down our service centre in Kuala Kubu Baharu.
“We continued serving locals and voters there... With the advantage we have, I hope Perikatan can agree to let Gerakan contest in the by-election,” said Lau.
Lau said the upcoming Kuala Kubu Baharu by-election will be a national issue as it will be heavily monitored by Malaysians.
“The Kuala Kubu Baharu by-election is a referendum of dissatisfaction towards the Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim government,” said Lau.
“Even if Perikatan wins, the state government will not be changed. But, we want to show Putrajaya that they are not capable of solving local problems,” he added.
The Kuala Kubu Baharu by-election is being held to fill in the vacancy following incumbent assemblyman Lee Kee Hiong's death recently.
The Election Commission had, on April 4, announced that nomination will be on April 27 and polling will take place on May 11.
