Negeri DAP to field Malay candidate

Lt Col Roseli Abdul Ghani will probably contest in the Chennah state constituency.

SEREMBAN: Negeri Sembilan DAP is set to field a Malay candidate in the coming general election.

Lieutenant Colonel Roseli Abdul Ghani will the first Malay election candidate from Negeri Sembilan DAP since 1974, when it fielded national laureate Dharma NS for the Jelebu parliamentary seat. He lost the contest to Barisan Nasional.

Roseli joined DAP two years ago, and it has been no secret among Pakatan Rakyat leaders that DAP would field him in Chennah, the only state seat that the party lost in the 2008 election.

Of the state seats that DAP contested in 2008, Chennah has the largest number of Malay voters. They account for 40% of the electorate. The Chinese make up slightly more than 50% and the Indians and Orang Asli each account for 2%.

Chennah is one of the most isolated districts in the state. Most of the Chinese there are senior citizens who have traditionally supported MCA. A Pakatan Rakyat official told FMT that DAP could not expect to get more than 70% of the Chinese votes.

Furthermore, he said, the current state assemblyman for Chennah, Siow Chen Pen, had a good track record of service to the community.

“DAP must get at least 40% of the Malay votes to win Chennah,” he added. “Fielding a Malay candidate there is a good idea.”

A PKR divisional leader told FMT a “few people” were not comfortable with the idea of DAP fielding a Malay candidate, suspecting that it harboured intentions of making him the Menteri Besar in the event that Pakatan wins in the state.

The state constitution requires the Menteri Besar to be a Malay.

“But we should not speculate and jump the gun now,” said the PKR man.

“Our aim should be to win enough seats to form the state government. The choice of the new Menteri Besar should be left to Yang DiPertuan Besar. I’m sure he will choose the best for the job.”

In the last election, Siow received 4,091 votes. His challenger from DAP, How Wee Shiong, got 2,793.