Lau claims PAS members were at nomination centre to back him

 

Gerakan president Dominic Lau claimed PAS supporters were present at the nomination centre today to back him in his bid for the Malay majority seat.

He was insistent that around 20 PAS supporters were present, although he couldn't identify them.

When Lau arrived at the nomination centre, his supporters wore blue PN shirts.

When journalists asked each group of supporters about their political affiliation, no one claimed to be from PAS, with those present claiming they were from Gerakan and Bersatu.

After completing the nomination process, Lau stressed that Gerakan was not fighting the election battle alone and emphasised that PAS supporters were indeed present at the centre.

"I don't know which newspaper reported no PAS supporters, but they had about 20 supporters here.

"Because they are from both Bersatu and PAS, unless they identified themselves as PAS supporters, I can't tell."

"Because nowadays, they are with Perikatan Nasional, but they come to salam and wish me good luck."

"I say thank you."

Lau faced resistance from PAS members and supporters when it was revealed that he will contest in the Bayan Lepas state seat.

PAS members staged a protest against Lau, threatening to boycott him if he contest the Bayan Lepas seat.

On the same day, PN announced 39 candidates to contest in Penang, leaving one conspicuous omission - the Bayan Lepas seat said to be coveted by Lau.

However, the next day, Lau confirmed that he will vie for the Bayan Lepas seat which was supposed to be contested by a PAS candidate.

PN secretary-general Hamzah Zainudin confirmed that the coalition had agreed to nominate Lau for the seat.

Lau attributed the misunderstanding over his contest in the predominantly Malay majority seat to poor communication.

"As I said, this is just an internal issue because the communication ... is not really good, that's why we have some misunderstandings, but all the issues will be resolved internally."

When asked if he was confident of PAS backing him in the campaign, Lau said the support will not only come from the Islamic party but also from all component parties and NGOs who care about Penang's future.

On the perception that Gerakan is relying on the "Green Wave" to gain voter support, he believes it is a tactic created by the DAP to attack the PN and Gerakan.

“I now understand that this term 'Green Wave' came from the DAP because you can see (DAP chairman) Lim Guan Eng has been attacking the PN and Gerakan in these past few days and even before the nomination."

"They say that if we are in power, PN will demolish all temples, ban the sale of pork, ban alcohol, and make everyone wear Songkok."

He criticised DAP leaders for using unprofessional and unhealthy tactics during the polls run-up.

Lau also refuted accusations that Gerakan is avoiding confronting DAP or Chinese voters.

"If you say that we are afraid of DAP, in Penang, our main opponent is the DAP, and among the 19 seats we are contesting, 11 are against the DAP."

"So I think this claim is not correct because Gerakan not only has Chinese but also Indian and Malay representatives under PN in this election." - Mkini