PCM to contest two parliamentary, six state seats in Penang

Voters will be looking at the candidates rather than at the party, says Parti Cinta Malaysia.

KUALA LUMPUR: Parti Cinta Malaysia (PCM), a Penang-based political party established in 2009, will contest at least two parliamentary and six state seats in the state in the coming general election, said vice-president Huan Cheng Guan.

He said the two parliamentary seats were Batu Kawan and Bagan while the state seats were Machang Bubok, Bukit Tengah, Prai, Bagan Dalam, Bagan Jermal and another seat to be identified later.

“We will contest in Batu Kawan against the DCM [deputy chief minister] and Bagan against the CM [chief minister]. I will be contesting Batu Kawan (parliamentary) and Machang Bubok (state seat).

“This time, I believe the situation will be different as voters will look at the candidate, rather than vote, according to the party,” he told Bernama in an interview.

The incumbent for Batu Kawan is Penang Deputy Chief Minister P Ramasamy while Bagan is held by Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng.

Huan, a former Gerakan vice-president, was MP for Batu Kawan from 2004-2008, before giving way to Gerakan president Koh Tsu Koon to contest in the parliamentary seat during the March 8, 2008 general election.

Huan was then tasked with contesting the Bukit Tambun state seat but was defeated by PKR’s Law Choo Kiang, while Ramasamy, who won the Prai state seat, also defeated Koh for the Batu Kawan parliamentary seat in the election.

Huan quit Gerakan in middle of 2009 before joining PCM at the end of that year.

“I’m a former MP for Batu Kawan. I still have the support there. For Machang Bubok, many of the grassroots supporters are there. That’s why, I decided to also contest these two seats. The chances are better for me as few PKR strongmen in the area have already crossed to PCM,” he said.

Huan said the party decided to focus on Penang as it has better chances, as compared to other states, although he did not rule out the possibility the party might contest in other states, as well.

The party has contested for the first time, during last year’s Sarawak state election, using its own logo after the Election Commission gave approval.

The party lost its only seat, Ngemah, after its state chairman, Gabriel Adit, was defeated by 995 votes by Barisan Nasional candidate Alexander Vincent.

All their other candidates were also defeated in those seats they contested.

However, for the coming general election, Adit was reported by a local Sarawak newspaper last week, as saying that PCM was not keen to contest in any of the 31 parliamentary seats in the state as they preferred to stay out due to lack of funds.

- Bernama