Two more Perak DAP big guns heading south
The duo will join DAP veteran Lim Kit Siang to do battle in Johor.
Humayun Kabir, FMT
Two more Perak DAP leaders may bring the battle to Johor in their bid to boost Pakatan Rakyat’s chances of breaching the Umno stronghold in the coming general election.
And Perak DAP will also see a shake-up, with new faces being fielded to replace “non-performing” incumbents.
The speculation is that Ipoh Barat MP M Kulasegaran and Batu Gajah MP Fong Po Kuan may join DAP veteran Lim Kit Siang to lead the charge into Umno’s birthplace.
PKR de facto leader Anwar Ibrahim has already announced that Lim, the Ipoh Timor MP, will contest in Gelang Patah parliamentary seat of Johor.
Kulasegaran was initially picked to contest in the Segamat parliamentary seat, but according to media report, Johor PKR chief Chua Jui Meng has been identified as the candidate for Segamat.
A DAP source said that Kulasegaran, who is closely linked to Lim, will contest any parliamentary seat in Johor that the party picks.
After crossing swords with the Perak DAP chairman Ngeh Koo Ham and secretary Nga Kor Ming over the years, Kulasegaran is preparing to enter a new political frontier of Johor.
Ngeh is Beruas MP and Setiawan assemblyman while his cousin Nga is Taiping MP and Pantai Remis assemblyman.
It is speculated that Fong, who has also clashed with cousins Ngeh and Nga, may be tipped to contest either Kluang or Kulai.
She may join her husband, Johor DAP secretary Tan Chen Choon who is tipped to contest the Bentayan Johor state seat.
With the exit of these three party leaders, Perak DAP has reshuffled the cards to fill the vacated slots. For a start, incumbent Pasir Pinji assemblyman Thomas Su Keong Siong may fill Lim’s shoes in Ipoh Timor.
Pasir Pinji may go to Perak DAP Youth state secretary Howard Lee Chuan How.
Non-performing incumbents
Former Pakatan State Legislative Assembly Speaker and Tronoh state assembleman V Sivakumar is likely to be fielded in Batu Gajah, while the Tronoh seat may go to Ngeh’s Sitiawan political secretary Paul Leong.
State DAP Youth chief, publicity secretary and Canning assemblyman Wong Kah Woh may be fielded in Ipoh Barat.
According to a DAP source, the state is dropping all non-performing incumbents and replacing them with new faces who support the state party leadership and are service-oriented.
