State polls: Penang DAP submits candidates list to party sec-gen

BAYAN LEPAS - The list of Penang DAP candidates who will contest in the state election has been submitted to DAP Secretary General Anthony Loke Siew Fook for the final selection.

Penang DAP chairman Chow Kon Yeow said all information will be announced when the results have been finalised later.

"I want to announce that the Penang DAP Candidate Selection Committee has met and we have submitted a list of recommendations to the Secretary General (Anthony), from which the Central Selection Committee will make a final decision on the list proposed by the state committee.

"All information will be known when it is finalised later," he said after launching MentorConnect Penang 2023 at the Penang Skills Development Center (PSDC) here on Thursday.

He added that DAP will contest 19 seats out of 40 in Penang.

"We have submitted more than 19 candidates, including new faces, for consideration. Before the state committee meeting, I met with the committee and looked into all opinions before we made the proposal.

"Whether the list will be changed or not, we have to wait. I was informed that I will be invited to attend and explain if there is a need to justify the proposed names," he said.

Previously, there were rumours that some names of former assemblymen from DAP who held the position of Exco of the Penang State Government were not to be re-nominated in the state election.

The names are: Deputy Chief Minister II P Ramasamy; former Sungai Puyu assemblyman Phee Boon Poh; Youth and Sports Exco Soon Lip Chee; Tourism and Creative Industry Exco Yeoh Soon Hin; and State Social Development and Non-Muslim Affairs Exco Chong Eng.

Commenting further, Chow, who is also the Chairman of Pakatan Harapan (PH), said that the matter is not known yet.

"We just have to wait a few more days to know everything. Maybe something was dropped. We have already met with all the incumbents, and they have shared their wishes.

"I have also conveyed the wishes and expectations of the center regarding the list, so the state committee has taken the views into account and has prepared the list based on these views," he said.

Regarding the candidate announcement date, Chow said a meeting at the central level will be held next week.

"This will be decided by the central level. I was informed that the meeting cannot be held this week because some members are not in the country. It may be held in a few days, maybe next week.

"Regarding the announcement of candidates, at the state level, I see that each party can announce its own list, but in Penang, we will have a ceremony to introduce the candidates because there may be new faces that we don't know yet," he said.

Penang has 40 state assembly seats, and in the 2018 General Election, PH won 37 seats when Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu) was still part of PH.