DAP seat strategy, candidate dynamics in Skudai and beyond

 

Since the issue of candidate and seat selection has been in the news lately, I thought I’d share my personal experience and views on this issue.

Firstly, the practice of DAP leaders vacating their safe seats and going to contest in marginal/dangerous seats to chart out new territory for the party is a well-known strategy.

Lim Kit Siang is obviously the legend/Goat (greatest of all time) in this respect, having vacated safe seats to contest in difficult seats and winning them (Ipoh Timor in 2004, Gelang Patah in 2013).

Others who have followed in his footsteps include Lim Guan Eng, who spearheaded the charge into Penang in 2008 and leaving his then comfort zone of Malacca; Liew Chin Tong who left his safe seat of Bukit Bendera (after one term) to contest and win the seat of Kluang in 2013 and Teo Nie Ching who left her safe seat of Serdang (after one term) to contest and win the seat of Kulai in 2013. Nga Kor Ming also vacated his safe seat of Taiping to contest and won the Teluk Intan seat in 2018.

I was a beneficiary of Teo’s move to Johor as I took over her safe seat of Serdang in 2013, which later became the seat of Bangi after the 2018 delimitation exercise.

DAP Johor would not have built up its capacity and capabilities without leaders like Kit Siang, Liew, and Teo going to Johor in 2013 to contest in seats which were then held by MCA.

DAP veteran Lim Kit Siang

For the record, both Teo and Tony Pua were considered for the Kulai seat, but in the end, Teo was chosen because the party leadership felt that Pua was still needed as the chairperson of Selangor DAP at that time.

Strategic candidate placements

Secondly, the strategy/practice described above does not apply to all DAP leaders. As many astute political observers have pointed out, DAP leaders such as Tan Kok Wai, Teresa Kok, and Fong Kui Lun have stayed in their very safe seats of Cheras, Seputeh, and Bukit Bintang, respectively, for many terms, for various reasons.

Gobind Singh moved from the relatively safe seat of Puchong to an even safer seat in Petaling Jaya Utara/Damansara in 2022 to make way for Yeo Bee Yin to contest in Puchong.

Thirdly, for the specific state seat of Skudai, which has been in the news lately, I understand that the first choice for this seat was not Marina Ibrahim initially, as there were plans to put Syahredzan Johan in the Iskandar Puteri parliamentary seat, which was going to be vacated by Lim Kit Siang as he was retiring from frontline politics.

It would have been difficult for the party to field two Malay candidates (one for Parliament and one for the state assembly) in the same area. But when the party leaders knew of my intention to vacate the Bangi Parliament seat (in favour of Syahredzan), the opportunity to field Marina in Skudai came into the picture.

Outgoing Skudai assemblyperson Marina Ibrahim

Fourthly, I do not think that Teo bore any malice towards Marina in suggesting that she move to the difficult state seat of Tiram in Pasir Gudang to contest there. I suspect there were other factors at play, including certain “warlords” in Skudai/Iskandar Puteri who wanted the Skudai seat for themselves or someone close to them.

Could Marina have delayed her announcement to not contest in Skudai and leave frontline politics until the decision on the candidate list was confirmed by the DAP senior leadership?

Yes, she probably could have played this game. And she probably could have gotten her way to remain in Skudai because it would have looked bad on the party to “push out” a young and capable Malay assemblyperson.

(I don’t know Marina personally, but feedback from others indicates that she is a hard-working assemblyperson.)

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But kudos to her for making a principled decision not to contest rather than to leave the party leadership in a difficult position.

Opportunities to serve

Fifthly and finally, I think that the offer for a position on a statutory board to Marina was made with good intentions by Teo. This is a way to ensure that someone like Marina continues to serve the people of Johor and Malaysia in a different capacity.

Sheikh Umar Bagharib Ali, who was recently made a senator, was the chairperson of the Lembaga Nanas Malaysia after he lost his state seat in 2022. Ean Yong Hian Wah was appointed as the Port Klang Authority (PKA) chairperson after he decided not to contest again in the Seri Kembangan state seat.

For the record, when I vacated the Bangi seat for Syahredzan, I did not ask for any chairpersonship of any statutory board if DAP became part of the federal government after 2022.

Bangi MP Syahredzan Johan (right) and DAP secretary-general Anthony Loke

After the 15th general election, I was offered a position as a member of the board of the Malaysian Investment Development Authority - Mida, which I took up from August 2023 to August 2025.

For this, I thank DAP secretary-general Anthony Loke for his support and former minister Tengku Zafrul Aziz for signing my appointment letter when he was the investment, trade, and industry minister.

I wish Marina all the best in her continued service to the people of Johor in another capacity in the future. - Mkini

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ONG KIAN MING is a former deputy international trade and industry minister.

The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of MMKtT.