‘Pakatan will take Putrajaya, 8 states’

DAP chairman Karpal Singh is confident that Pakatan Rakyat will form the next government after the 13th general election.

GEORGE TOWN: Pakatan Rakyat will wrest control of Putrajaya and capture eight states in the forthcoming 13th general election, predicted a confident DAP supremo Karpal Singh.

Sensing a strong surge in public support, the DAP national chairman said Pakatan was on the right track to capture the federal government with a slight majority.

Besides retaining its current four state governments, he said Pakatan should add Negeri Sembilan, Johor, Perlis and Perak to its list after the polls.

But he cautioned that Malaysians could always kick out Pakatan if they were dissatisfied with its deliverance.

“I think Malaysians can expect a new government after the election. A change of government was long expected in the country anyway.

“In democracy, it’s the people, not political parties, who own the government. They can always vote out Pakatan after five years if we fail to perform,” he told reporters here.

Karpal also called on DAP members to stop speculating on the party candidates and their seats.

He revealed that the four-man committee, established by the party central executive committee (CEC) to make final decisions on candidature, had not met.

The four-man committee consisted of Karpal and his party deputy Tan Kok Wai, secretary-general Lim Guan Eng and his father, Ipoh Timur MP Lim Kit Siang.

On his own constituency, Karpal hopes that the party would allow him to seek re-election in the Bukit Gelugor federal seat for the third time.

He hopes Bukit Gelugor constituents would vote him in to parliament again.

BN is speculated to field a lawyer Teh Beng Yeam from MCA while Parti Cinta Malaysiais is also expected to field a candidate in Bukit Gelugor, which encompasses Seri Delima, Air Itam and Paya Terubong state seats.

Formerly, Karpal was a three-term Bukit Gelugor assemblyman between 1978 and 1986. He was also a five-term Jelutong MP between 1978 and 1995 before losing in the 1999 general election.