Yap Pian Hon, a DAP member who fell out with Lim Kit Siang before joining MCA and becoming the Serdang MP, said the order for Skudai incumbent Boo Cheng Hau to vacate his state seat and stand in the Labis parliamentary seat could be due to Boo’s statements advising against DAP’s election strategies.
It was reported that DAP’s central leadership had offered Boo the Labis seat in exchange for the Skudai state seat which he has held for two terms.
When contacted, Johor DAP chief Liew Chin Tong confirmed that the central leadership had offered Boo the Labis seat twice over the past two weeks.
However, he declined to comment further on the matter.
If Boo takes up the offer, Mengkibol assemblyman Tan Hong Pin will go to Skudai while Johnson Chew Chong Sin will stand in Mengkibol.
Boo first won the Skudai seat in 2008 with a 12,854-vote majority.
Not only has Boo expressed reluctance to leave Skudai, Tan is also keen to remain in Mengkibol where he has been active for the last five years.
Tan was reported as saying that he had an unwritten rule with Liew that one of them would remain in Kluang.
Mengkibol is under the Kluang parliamentary constituency.
Tan won the Mengkibol seat with a 10,001-vote majority in 2013, while Liew captured Kluang with a 7,359-vote majority.
Liew will be moving to the neighbouring Ayer Hitam parliamentary seat to stand against MCA deputy president Wee Ka Siong in the coming general election.
“What is happening to Boo could be a common political move within a party when you want to get rid of people whom you think are no longer in agreement with your ‘camp’,” said Yap.
“The situation in DAP looks really messy, and it is not just isolated to Johor. In other states as well, you can see there is a focus on pushing certain members out of the party.
“They can say it is a party strategy to win the general election, but it can also be seen as an excuse to force members out.
“If you agree, then you can continue to contest. If you disagree, you may not get a seat.”
Yap, 74, said to date, DAP was so focused on eliminating MCA that it looked as though that was all it wanted to do in the coming polls.
“I don’t understand why they are targeting MCA and so obsessed with ‘killing’ us. Why not Gerakan?
“They are too confident, thinking that the Chinese are all on their side.
“But if they are not careful, they could be misunderstood as ‘using’ the voters to win the election and having no intention to stand by them post-general election.”
Yap gave the example of Rafizi Ramli’s recent statement where the Pandan MP had said PKR could retain the seat even if it fielded a cat.
Calling this an insult to voters, Yap warned against being “arrogant”.
“How do you think your supporters would feel when you make such statements?
“The same goes for DAP’s overconfidence with Chinese support. They cannot take for granted that they already have all of the Chinese support wherever they go and whomever they field.”
It has been reported that if Boo insists on defending Skudai, the DAP central leadership will consider fielding Senai assemblyman Wong Shu Qi in Labis instead.
Wong reportedly said she would not decline the offer.
Labis, whose incumbent is MCA vice-president Chua Tee Yong, is a mixed seat with 44.96% Chinese, 37.98% Malay and 14.66% Indian voters, according to the latest electoral rolls.
Chua was elected as an MP in the 2008 election, succeeding his father, former MCA president Chua Soi Lek.
The current international trade and industry deputy minister retained his seat by a mere 353 votes in the 13th general election.
http://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/nation/2015/10/12/boo-resigns-as-johor-opposition-leader-cites-backstabbing/
Redelineation may be a blessing for Johor opposition, says DAP man