If the DAP fails to obtain more seats to contest in the coming general election, the party may have no choice but to go for three-corner fights.
DAP’s sole Kedah assemblyperson Lee Guan Aik (right) said this was not the party’s intention nor the people’s desire but the political landscape in Kedah has changed since 2008.
Lee, who is Kota Darulaman DAP representative, added that the party wants to play a bigger role in the Kedah government, and therefore wishes to have a bigger representation in the state.
“We are not demanding, we will let our national leadership decide and we will respect that decision but we would like to have more seats as we do have strongholds in Kedah too,” he told Malaysiakini.
“It is not that we want to lessen PAS’ influence in the state but due to the spillover effect of strong support for Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng in Penang, support for us here is increasing,” he added.
Lee was referring to yesterday’s announcement by Kedah Menteri Besar Azizan Abdul Razak that DAP would not be getting any additional seat in the next general election.
Azizan was quoted by the media as saying the seat distribution among PAS, PKR and DAP was based on the 2008 status quo.
Creating problems for Pakatan Rakyat
Lee disagreed with Azizan’s statement, saying he is uncertain whether the state PAS commissioner “was merely playing politics or out to create trouble for Pakatan Rakyat in Kedah”.
According to Lee, the MB has made such statements several times already.
On the possibility of Pakatan parties disputing over seats, Lee said this was possible at state level but not when it is deliberated by the central Pakatan leadership.
Lee said Azizan (left) cannot rely on the situation in 2008 to decide on seat allocations for the 13th GE, which must be called by May next year.
In the previous polls, DAP was not really together with PAS after having learnt a bitter lesson due to the Islamic state controversy, he added.
“However, this time around the people want us to be together. We went into the elections not realising that this was what led us to victory,” he said.
“When it actually happened, we regretted that we had asked for too few seats but then it was still fine as we had a moral victory,” he added.
Lee said Pakatan did well because of the one-to-one seat policy in the last polls and did lose a couple of seats due to three-cornered fights.
He added that this was indicative of the fact that the component parties must cooperate and compromise when it comes to seat allocation.
DAP’s sole Kedah assemblyperson Lee Guan Aik (right) said this was not the party’s intention nor the people’s desire but the political landscape in Kedah has changed since 2008.Lee, who is Kota Darulaman DAP representative, added that the party wants to play a bigger role in the Kedah government, and therefore wishes to have a bigger representation in the state.
“We are not demanding, we will let our national leadership decide and we will respect that decision but we would like to have more seats as we do have strongholds in Kedah too,” he told Malaysiakini.
“It is not that we want to lessen PAS’ influence in the state but due to the spillover effect of strong support for Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng in Penang, support for us here is increasing,” he added.
Lee was referring to yesterday’s announcement by Kedah Menteri Besar Azizan Abdul Razak that DAP would not be getting any additional seat in the next general election.
Azizan was quoted by the media as saying the seat distribution among PAS, PKR and DAP was based on the 2008 status quo.
Creating problems for Pakatan Rakyat
Lee disagreed with Azizan’s statement, saying he is uncertain whether the state PAS commissioner “was merely playing politics or out to create trouble for Pakatan Rakyat in Kedah”.
According to Lee, the MB has made such statements several times already.
On the possibility of Pakatan parties disputing over seats, Lee said this was possible at state level but not when it is deliberated by the central Pakatan leadership.
Lee said Azizan (left) cannot rely on the situation in 2008 to decide on seat allocations for the 13th GE, which must be called by May next year.In the previous polls, DAP was not really together with PAS after having learnt a bitter lesson due to the Islamic state controversy, he added.
“However, this time around the people want us to be together. We went into the elections not realising that this was what led us to victory,” he said.
“When it actually happened, we regretted that we had asked for too few seats but then it was still fine as we had a moral victory,” he added.
Lee said Pakatan did well because of the one-to-one seat policy in the last polls and did lose a couple of seats due to three-cornered fights.
He added that this was indicative of the fact that the component parties must cooperate and compromise when it comes to seat allocation.
Malay support in state increasing
“There is a need for consensus and it is unavoidable that some seats must be sacrificed,” he said.
However, Lee lamented that it is a challenge to speak to PAS about the matter, a problem also faced by the state PKR.
He decried that it would be “unfair” to merely allocate one state seat for DAP when the party has supporters in several areas, with active branches in its original strongholds.
He identified areas like Bakar Arang, Gurun and Sungai Petani as having long-time DAP influence and recently increasing Malay support.
The Sungai Petani parliamentary seat is currently held by PKR’s Johari Abdul.
Lee revealed that DAP is seeking six state seats and two parliamentary seats in the upcoming election.
However, he is uncertain when the central coalition leadership would decide as they have not even met over seat allocation in the state.
There are currently 36 state seats in Kedah - Pakatan only has 20, BN 14 and there are two Independents - in Lunas and Bakar Arang.
In 2008, PAS contested 24 state seats and won 16; PKR contested 11 but won four, where two of them became Independents later. The DAP won one seat, while the remaining 14 seats are held by BN.
However, Lee lamented that it is a challenge to speak to PAS about the matter, a problem also faced by the state PKR.
He decried that it would be “unfair” to merely allocate one state seat for DAP when the party has supporters in several areas, with active branches in its original strongholds.
He identified areas like Bakar Arang, Gurun and Sungai Petani as having long-time DAP influence and recently increasing Malay support.
The Sungai Petani parliamentary seat is currently held by PKR’s Johari Abdul.
Lee revealed that DAP is seeking six state seats and two parliamentary seats in the upcoming election.
However, he is uncertain when the central coalition leadership would decide as they have not even met over seat allocation in the state.
There are currently 36 state seats in Kedah - Pakatan only has 20, BN 14 and there are two Independents - in Lunas and Bakar Arang.
In 2008, PAS contested 24 state seats and won 16; PKR contested 11 but won four, where two of them became Independents later. The DAP won one seat, while the remaining 14 seats are held by BN.
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