GE14 | DAP has announced former Johor PAS activist Sheikh Omar Ali as its candidate for the Paloh state seat for the coming 14th general election.

Sheikh Omar, who is now DAP assistant publicity secretary, left the Islamist party in June 2015 to join DAP.

DAP parliamentary leader Lim Kit Siang broke the news at the opening of the party's Paloh general election centre in Paloh, Johor yesterday evening.

“The opening of the DAP-Harapan election centre in Paloh is most symbolic and meaningful, for DAP Paloh has restored a burnt shophouse that had been abandoned for over two decades into a hive of activity for political change, not only for Paloh, but also for the Johor state and the Malaysian nation,” he said in his speech.

Lim expressed optimism in their bid to take the southern state, Umno's stronghold, despite the controversial redelineation bulldozed through Parliament this week.

Just as DAP has restored the abandoned building, said Lim, “Harapan can succeed to Save Malaysia and bring about the first peaceful and democratic change of government in Johor and Malaysia.”

Sheikh Omar (centre in photo) is the first Malay candidate the DAP has announced for the coming campaign.

In his speech, Lim also accused BN of attempting to “steal” the election by way of the controversial redelineation which he called “the worst gerrymandering in the nation’s history.”

He said they could do so with just 40 percent of the popular votes, which he said is worse than in the 13th general election, where electoral inequities allowed BN to win with just 47 percent of the popular vote.

He pointed out the redrawing of the boundaries has inflated the former Petaling Jaya Utara parliamentary constituency of 85,000 voters into Damansara, with almost 150,000 voters.

“(Damansara) will have four times more voters than Sabak Bernam, and about 10 times that of Putrajaya,” he said.

Eyeing 10 pct Malay swing

However, Lim is confident with a swing of 10 percent of the Malay voters and five percent of the non-Malay voters from BN to Harapan, the coalition will still manage to “defeat the undemocratic designs” of the ruling party, and take both Putrajaya and Johor.

Later yesterday, Lim in at an election preparations dinner at Johor Jaya announced that incumbent Johor Jaya assemblyperson Liow Cai Tung would be defending her seat in the coming election.

In 2013, Liow defeated MCA's then incumbent Tan Cher Puk by a 1,460 vote margin.

Meanwhile DAP's Paloh candidate Shanker Rengganathan lost to MCA in the last election by just 103 votes.

Paloh is in the Sembrong parliamentary constituency currently held by Defence Minister Hishammuddin Hussein, and has been the focus of suspicions of padded army voters, allegations that the EC has denied.