Loke said Pakatan Harapan has yet to begin seat negotiations.

“So, we have not discussed candidates,” he said at a press conference in Klang.

Loke said the candidates would only be known on nomination day.

Ramasamy, who is the Perai assemblyman, previously said he was surprised by The Star’s report, adding he did not understand where the daily got the information as Penang DAP had yet to submit its list of potential candidates to the party’s central leadership.

A former professor of political science, Ramasamy has served three terms as an assemblyman since making his electoral debut in 2008.

Earlier today, FMT quoted a party insider as saying that those aligned to Ramasamy in Penang DAP were likely to be wiped out when candidates for the coming state assembly election are chosen.

Meanwhile, when asked to comment if DAP had taken disciplinary action against Ramasamy for his contentious comments on reforming the civil service, Loke said “we’re dealing with it”.

Last month, Ramasamy was reported to have called for the public service to reflect the ethnic composition of the country.

He later clarified that his call to reform the civil service was not about breaking the “monopoly of the Malays”.

His comments incurred the wrath of other Pakatan Harapan lawmakers who asked DAP to give him the sack as he was deemed a liability to the unity government.