Gerakan has again expressed eagerness to field a candidate under the Perikatan Nasional ticket in the looming Kuala Kubu Baharu by-election.
Today, the party’s central committee unanimously voted in favour of “defending the seat”.
The vote comes ahead of a PN supreme council meeting on Monday to finalise the coalition’s candidate for the by-election. All three PN component parties are said to be keen on fielding their own candidates in the contest.
“We will bring this matter (the Gerakan central committee meeting’s decision) to the PN supreme council and will defend the Kuala Kubu Baharu seat,” said Gerakan president Dominic Lau in a statement.
“I feel we have an advantage because Gerakan was the previous candidate for Kuala Kubu Baharu.
“Even though we were defeated in the last election, Gerakan has continued to operate its service centre to assist the people regardless of their race,” he added.
Nevertheless, the senator said Gerakan is prepared to accept any eventuality because the priority is to ensure PN’s victory at the by-election and to serve the people of Kuala Kubu Baharu.
Lau called the by-election a “people’s referendum” on the government under Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim.
“This by-election is crucial as it has become the national focus, and candidates play an important role in signalling the rejection of the government of the day,” he added.
At last year’s election, DAP’s Lee Kee Hiong successfully defended the Kuala Kubu Baharu state seat against Gerakan’s Teoh Kien Hong, Muda’s Siva Prakash Ramasamy, and Parti Rakyat Malaysia’s Chng Boon Lai with a majority of 4,119 votes.
The seat fell vacant when Lee passed away on March 21.
Polling for the by-election will take place on May 11, while nomination day falls on April 27.
Lau previously told Malaysiakini that Bersatu and PAS also intend to contest the seat, and Gerakan has proposed five candidates and offered several reasons why its candidates should be fielded.
PN also reportedly has a list of potential candidates for the by-election and a decision is set to be made at the coalition’s Monday meeting.
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