GEORGE TOWN: Gerakan president Dominic Lau, contesting as the Perikatan Nasional candidate in the Bayan Lepas state seat, says his victory there would be a big win for multiculturalism.
He said this was because it would prove that being a non-Malay candidate in a Malay-majority seat did not matter when the candidate could care for the welfare of all.
Lau said he admits there was some trepidation from the grassroots over his candidacy in a Malay-majority seat, but the PN brand was well received.
“Wherever I went, I had a good reception towards me. During my walkabout two days ago, Malay people at an eatery in Bayan Lepas stood up and shook my hands saying they would vote for PN.
“And the Chinese voters were not distant. They are not scared of PN any more, they have warmed towards us, and they want change in Penang,” he told FMT while at an event in Bayan Lepas.
The Bayan Lepas electorate in 2018 comprised Malays (64.4%), Chinese (29.8%), Indians (5.2%) and others (0.4%).
When asked about his insistence in contesting Bayan Lepas, he said as Gerakan president, he has sent non-Chinese candidates to Chinese seats, with confidence that they would win. He said such logic should apply similarly to him.
“The race shouldn’t be about race. We are multiracial. If I am triumphant in Bayan Lepas, it is a big win for multiculturalism,” he said.
A total of 19 Gerakan candidates are in the PN lineup for the Penang state assembly elections. The party, once dominant in Penang from 1969 to 2008, was wiped out at the 2022 parliamentary elections.
Bayan Lepas PAS grassroots member Anuar Ramli, 69, who was at a dinner event with Lau, said he was not bothered about a protest against Lau contesting in Bayan Lepas.
He said what matters most was to obey the orders of the party and coalition leadership to support the candidates. “The party president, PN secretary-general have already decided. We have to respect that. We must follow what they say,” he said.
A group of PAS grassroots members recently protested against Lau’s candidacy in Bayan Lepas, saying a PAS member should be fielded.
Pakatan Harapan won the seat in 2018 with a 5,245-vote majority. Election Commission data showed PH receiving 40% of the votes, PN (38%), BN (20%) and others (1%). - FMT
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