KUALA LUMPUR: Gerakan vice-president Datuk Dr Dominic Lau and lawyer Ong Siang Liang will be contesting the Batu and Kepong seats respectively for the 14th General Election.
Gerakan president Datuk Seri Mah Siew Keong said the two coordinators for the parliamentary constituencies have worked hard the past two years despite not being the wakil rakyat.
“So we submitted their names to the Prime Minister,” Mah said at a press conference in the Gerakan’s service centre in Batu, here today.
He said Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak is expected to make an announcement on the candidates soon.
“Dominic is not new to the people in Batu. He stood in the last two elections but unfortunately lost. However he continued to work hard for the people,” he added.
Mah was also upbeat about snagging Kepong from DAP as Ong had made an impression on the community.
“Of course we know that Kepong has always been a tough battle(ground). But Ong has been giving people free legal advise over the years.”
“Ong has worked from morning to night. So we believe we will have a good chance,” he added.
Kepong has been a DAP stronghold for eight terms under DAP vice-president Dr Tan Seng Giaw.
However the latter was recently dropped for “parachute-candidate” Lim Lip Eng who has served as Segambut MP for two terms.
Ong also believed these two factors will give him an edge.”
“DAP is making a mistake by dropping Dr Tan. It is an advantage to me and I will go all out. This is the time,” he said.
Ong also said that all Gerakan needed was a 10 per cent shift in its favour to win the seat as its it commanded about 30 per cent of the people’s support.
Mah had further said that whether or not Gerakan would be contesting in Segambut would be announced soon.
“We are still finalising the matter and PM will make an announcement soon,” he added.
In GE13 Lau was defeated by Tian Chua with a majority of 13, 284 votes. In Kepong Dr Tan Seng Giaw retained his seat of after defeating BN or then PPP candidate Chandrakumanan Arumugam and independent candidate Yee Poh Ping.