[ Laman Ehwal Semasa ReformIS ]
Date: 17 Aug 1999
Time: 01:46:23
Remote User: -
Ulasan
Kita mahu pakatan alternatif berjaya. Kita lebih faham terhadap realiti setempat dan realiti semasa. Oleh itu kita berusaha bersungguh-sungguh. Janji menang.
============================================================================================================================== DAP going for 18 Penang seats
PENANG: The DAP expects to field candidates in 18 to 20 state seats in Penang in the next general election, state deputy chairman Chong Eng said yesterday.
She said that while the sharing of seats among the opposition coalition parties had yet to be finalised, the 14 seats the DAP won in 1990 "will definitely be ours."
"In addition, we will be contesting several seats which we have never won, such as Tanjung Bungah," she said.
Chong said Parti Keadilan Nasional was still "working things out" with PAS on the apportioning of the other seats while Parti Rakyat Malaysia would "probably take one or two seats" it had previously contested.
She said parliamentary seats would be decided at the national level, adding DAP would give up some of its traditional seats to Keadilan, as it was a new party.
"There has to be some give and take to strengthen the opposition and allow the people more choice," she said.
State Gerakan vice-chairman Datuk Dr Kang Chin Seng said on Thursday the DAP would vie for the 14 seats it had won in 1990 while PAS would field candidates in the Malay heartland, Keadilan in the mixed constituencies and PRM in "one or two seats, simply to keep them in the coalition."
This formula, he said, would give the DAP the largest block, noting that the party's ultimate aim was to take over the Penang government by default, not just deny the Barisan Nasional a two-thirds majority.
Chong said the DAP's stand that it was out to deny the Barisan a two-thirds majority was not inconsistent with the aim to take over the government.
"The final objective of any political party is to be in power so that you can practise what you preach," she said.
However, she added, while Keadilan and PAS wanted to come into power through this round of elections, the DAP felt it would not be that easy.
She noted that the party had openly said a more realistic goal was to deny the Barisan a two-thirds majority and then work towards taking over the government in the next round.
In Kuala Lumpur, former Perak DAP deputy chairman Asri Othman said DAP and Keadilan were trying to put up a show that they were working well when there was no co-operation between them in Perak and the Kinta Valley.
He said the Perak DAP did not organise ceramahs with Keadilan at state, district or branch levels in Perak.
"The DAP does not hold any ceramah with Keadilan in areas which are considered DAP strongholds. It is afraid the Chinese will be attracted to Keadilan's manifesto and aspirations.
"It is afraid Keadilan will be more popular than the DAP," Asri said in a statement, adding that the DAP was preventing members from joining Keadilan.