Free Malaysia Today
By Leven Woon
KUALA LUMPUR | Nov 4, 2012
PETALING JAYA: In a bid to further consolidate its power in Selangor, DAP has urged its members to set sights in wresting eight BN marginal state seats which they won with less than 1,000 majority votes in the last general election.
Opening the 17th Selangor DAP State Annual Convention today, Kok said that the seats comprise of at least 15% of non-Malay voters, and have seen an increase of new voters between 11.9% and 42.2% since 2008.
The seats are Sg Ayer Tawar, Sabak, Permatang, Kuang, Taman Templar, Sri Serdang, Paya Jaras, Morib.
Kok said though DAP are not contesting on these seats, the party can play a significant role in spurring the non-Malay support to Pakatan candidates in the coming election.
“If we can increase the non-Malay votes to at least 70 percent, then we can win the seats,” she said.
The DAP stalwart also cautioned party members on the risk of losing two DAP-held state seats – Sekinchan and Teluk Datuk – which they won with 190 and 698 majority votes respectively.
“If they place some phantom voters there, and our Pakatan coalition parties don’t co-operate with each other, the seats will be in great danger,” she said.
However, she also pointed out its party arch rival MCA was not on the better position, as the only two state seats they have now – Kuala Kubu Baru and Sungai Pelek – might fall to DAP to anytime.
“They only won Kuala Kubu Baru with 448 votes and Sungai Pelek with 1,572 votes, we must our focus energy to wrest over the seats,” she said.
The opposition pact won the Selangor leadership for the first time in 2008 when they swept away 35 out of 56 seats in the state. BN holds 20 seats while Parti Sosialis Malaysia (PSM) has one.
Being the richest state in Malaysia, Selangor was seen as a major battlefield in the coming election as BN trains its gun to recapture the state.
Speaking to reporters later, Kok revealed that Pakatan as a whole has eight marginal seats in the state including the two held by DAP.
She said if Pakatan managed to recapture the eight, and score breakthrough in another eight BN seats, then they would be safe to continue ruling the state after the next GE.
She said the political reality was that DAP’s influence was still limited to non-Malay areas, hence the party should work on its strength and assist Pakatan coalition partners in that aspect.