Bkt Bintang: No longer safe for DAP

Should DAP lose the Bukit Bintang parliamentary seat in the coming general election, it will be a crucial setback for justice, said party leader Lim Kit Siang.

In a statement, the Ipoh Timor parliamentarian said the party’s stronghold of over three decades has become a ‘dangerous’ seat due to the influx of over 6,000 postal votes since the 2004 general election.

"DAP can lose the Bukit Bintang parliamentary seat in the March 8 general election, not because the people of Bukit Bintang have ceased to support the DAP," he said.

"(It would be) because of electoral hanky-panky and the most lopsided playing field for (the) constituency in 50 years."

In 2004, DAP’s Fong Kui Lun (photo) won with a narrow majority of 304 votes. He defeated MCA’s Tan Chew Mooi, Malaysian Democratic Party’s Wee Choo Keong and Independent candidate Billi Lim Peng Soon.

The seat currently has about 60,000 voters made up of 74 percent Chinese, 15 percent Malays and 11 percent Indians.

Vote for the 5Cs

Lim stressed that if two-term incumbent Fong loses, it will not be just a personal or a party loss.

"It will be a major setback of historic proportion for the long, hard and grueling political struggle to create a fair, just and equal Malaysia," he said.

"It will be the triumph of all that is wrong with our country not only in the past quarter-century, but also in the past four years of (Prime Minister) Abdullah (Ahmad Badawi) premiership."

In a parody of Umno deputy president Najib Abdul Razak’s call to ‘Heal Kelantan’ by taking the state from PAS, Lim urged voters to ‘Heal Malaysia’ starting from Bukit Bintang.

"The battle cry for all Malaysians in the 12th general election should be ‘Heal Malaysia’. Never before has the country been plagued by so many divisive nation-building issues – with religious polarisation the most serious and greatest new threat to national unity," he said.

He called on voters to focus on the 5Cs - crime, corruption, cost of living, international competitiveness and to uphold the Merdeka Constitution and 1957 Social Contract

DAP is hoping to deny Barisan Nasional a two-thirds majority in Parliament but has been plagued with disputes over seats, in negotiations with other opposition parties.

Po Kuan, please reconsider

Another blow has been the decision by Batu Gajah MP Fong Po Kuan to decline to defend the seat in Perak.

She did not explain why, but speculation is rife that it was due to disagreement within DAP Perak. She suggested that incumbent Pasir Pinji assemblyperson Thomas Su Keong Siong should take her place.

Po Kuan became an overnight celebrity when she won the Batu Gajah seat in her maiden attempt in 1999. She was only 26 then.

She went on to retain the seat in 2004 by defeating MCA secretary general Ong Ka Chuan, with a higher majority.

Lim today appealed to Po Kuan to seriously reconsider her decision.

"I will not be speaking the truth if I say that Po Kuan's announcement yesterday had come as a complete surprise to me, although it was a shock to the overwhelming majority of DAP leaders, members and supporters.

He denied that there was an attempt by the party to move her to a constituency in Johor, where her husband - whom she married last month - is based.The party never asked Po Kuan to change constituencies, as all party leaders had expected and fully supported her to contest for the third time in the Batu Gajah parliamentary seat."