Pauline Puah
The Sun
PETALING JAYA (Feb 19, 2008): DAP will be contesting seven parliamentary and 18 state seats in Perak in the March 8 general election.
DAP veteran leader Lim Kit Siang told theSun the seven parliamentary seats are Ipoh Timur, Ipoh Barat, Batu Gajah, Taiping, Beruas, Kampar and Teluk Intan.
DAP will also contest all the nine state seats in the Kinta Valley - Canning, Tebing Tinggi, Pasir Pinji, Bercham, Kepayang, Buntong, Jelapang, Menglembu and Tronoh.
Other state seats that DAP would be contesting are Pokok Assam, Aulong, Jalong, Pantai Remis, Malim Nawar, Keranji, Setiawan, Pasir Bedamar and Sungkai.
Earlier, seat negotiations between DAP and Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) were in a stalemate as PKR was also keen to contest some state seats in the Kinta Valley.
It led to a war of words between leaders of both parties, to the point that both parties had to prepare for three-cornered fights if the negotiations failed.
Kit Siang said he and PKR de facto leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim had in a joint press conference today announced both parties’ commitment to avoid three-cornered fights. DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng and PKR vice-president Dr Lee Boon Chye were also present in the press conference.
In 2004, Lee who had been active in Ipoh Timur had to give way to Kit Siang and contested in Gopeng where he was defeated.
Lee, when contacted, said the party will be announcing the seats it is contesting once its negotiations with PAS are finalised.
“We will announce the list in a day or two,” said Lee who is expected to go for Gopeng again.
On whether there would be a three-corner fight in Jalong state seat since Parti Sosialis Malaysia (PSM) which would contest under PKR’s ticket also expressed its interest to contest the seat, Lee said: “We will sort that out later.”
PSM had announced that it would rather go for a three-cornered fight if DAP refused to let go of the Jalong state and Sungai Siput parliamentary seats.
In the 2004 general election, PSM contested on a PKR ticket as it is unregistered, and DAP fought in a three-cornered fight for the Sungai Siput seat held by MIC president Datuk Seri S.Samy Vellu.
Samy Vellu won with a majority of 10,349 votes while PRM’s Dr D.Jeyakumar polled 8,680 vote and DAP’s P.P.Samugam garnered 2,890.
