Gerakan to contest 13 seats in Penang state polls

 

Gerakan, a component of the Perikatan Nasional coalition, plans to contest 13 seats in the upcoming Penang state polls.

Penang Gerakan chairperson Oh Tong Keong (above) said the state seats that the party will contest are Pulau Tikus, Pantai Jerejak, Kebun Bunga, Padang Kota, and Batu Lanchang while the eight others will be decided later.

"As of now, we are still under negotiations (with the components of PN) to identify the candidates and the state seats to contest. We might contest more than 13 seats, but it will all depend on the negotiations," he told reporters in George Town today.

He added that the negotiations were 95 percent complete and that the party is pursuing further discussions as there were still some seat negotiation issues to be looked into.

He stated that about 70 percent of Gerakan's candidates will be new faces.

Penang has 40 state seats, and in the 14th general election (GE14), Pakatan Harapan won 37, including two by Bersatu candidates, while BN won two, and PAS managed one. Bersatu used to be with Harapan but now is the lynchpin of the opposition coalition PN, which includes PAS.

Penang Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow recently announced that the state legislative assembly will be dissolved on June 28 to pave the way for the state polls.

- Bernama