DAP shoots down Karpal’s ‘one candidate, one seat’ proposal

(NST) – The DAP central executive committee (CEC) has shot down its national chairman Karpal Singh’s “one candidate, one seat” proposal.

Instead, party secretary-general Lim Guan Eng said the question of whether a candidate stands for both parliamentary and state seats should be decided on a case-by-case basis.

He said the decision was unanimously made by the CEC at its meeting on Monday night.

“It was decided that any decision on this matter (one seat, one candidate) should be decided on a case- by-case basis as it relates to political strategy and winnability,” he said in a statement.

Lim, who is a member of parliament and also a state assemblyman, said all party members should refrain from publicising the issue.

He said talking about such issues, which touch on the internal party mechanism, would only expose the party to further attacks, especially from the mainstream media.

The CEC decision effectively buries Karpal’s proposal that the party only allocate one seat for every candidate it fields in the coming general election.

The veteran party leader had proposed that only Lim be given an exemption as the latter needed to bring state issues to Parliament in his capacity as Penang chief minister.