PN absent amid BN and Harapan war of flags in Yong Peng

JOHOR POLLS | As the Johor election campaign entered the fourth day, the landscape in Yong Peng, a town in the central part of the state, is now dotted with fluttering flags of BN and Pakatan Harapan.

The posters of BN's Ling Tian Soon and Harapan's Alan Tee Boon Tsong are also plastered across the constituency. Notably, absent, however, are pictures of Perikatan Nasional's (PN) Susan Yong Fui Ling.

Even generic PN flags were hardly seen in the constituency.

The only place with significant PN visibility was the coalition flags lining the street outside the coalition's operation's centre, about two kilometres from the main road in Yong Peng town.

Yeo admitted that her campaign was facing issues with regard to the delivery of campaign material from the Gerakan headquarters in Johor Bahru.

"This was handled by the headquarters in Johor Bahru. There may be some delays," Yong told Malaysiakini. She added that the campaign materials should go up soon.

"We are indeed behind as it's already entering the fourth day of the campaign. Perhaps it is because Gerakan is contesting eight seats and most of them, are in Johor Bahru while Yong Peng is in the central region," she added.

A survey of Gerakan-contested constituencies around the suburbs of Johor Bahru did not appear to face such a problem.

Yeo, 53, is Gerakan's sole woman candidate contesting under the PN banner. She is also the Johor Wanita Gerakan chief and national Wanita Gerakan vice chairperson.

To date, the contest in Yong Peng has largely revolved around BN and Harapan.

MCA, which is contesting under BN, has made it clear that Yong Peng is a battleground seat and a key constituency for its redemption from its wipeout from the Johor assembly during the last election.

The candidate Ling is MCA's national organising secretary and a trusted lieutenant of MCA president Wee Ka Siong. He faces Tee, who is the political secretary of Johor DAP chief Liew Chin Tong.

The clash between the duo has been described as a proxy contest between two senior MCA and DAP leaders.

In the last general election, DAP won Yong Peng with a 5,089-vote majority.

However, the DAP incumbent Chew Peck Choo was retiring and Tee was moved from the relatively safe seat of Senai to fill in for Chew. - Mkini