PKR Parliamentary Line-Up Surprises; Lingam Video Clip Maker Loh Gwo Burne in Kelanja Jaya; Lawyer Wee Choo Keong in Wangsa Maju; DAP woes in Penang

It looks like PKR is catching on the popularity & exposure of the Lingam Viedo Clip players to win in two seats in the coming GE. The maker of the clip Loh Gwo Burne is standing in Kelana Jaya most probably at the behest of his father Loh Kim Fah. And the other lawyer Wee Choo Keong is abandoning his MDP and the Bukit Bintang seat he had won before as an MP and trying his cahne in Wangsa Maju. With the winds of change blowing in the direction of the opposition everywhere, they might give the BN opponents a close fight and take away the seats

Meanwhile in Penang the state DAP Party Chief Chow Kon Yeow reported great difficulties in securing places to have the ceremahs and threatened to have them "on the streets" as a last resorts. This might encounter problems in getting the Police permits 2 days in advance. If the police are following orders and rules they can sabotage the DAP street ceremahs by saying that the venues are not appropriate and their demands that request must be made 2-days in advance might be difficult to follow given the scarcity of venues and DAP sympathizers

Also there was a bit of DAP drama in Penang when its legal adviser Rayer complained of marginalization of DAP Indian Candidates in Penang - another infighting cropping up. The leadership of veteran Karpal Singh (BELOW, briefing newsmen) solved the situation when Rayer retracted his accusations in the afternoon

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Lingam Tape 'personalities' enter the electoral battles

Llew-Ann Phang and Regina William, theSUN

PETALING JAYA (Feb 22, 2008): The heat of the damning Lingam Video Tape which is embarrassing the judiciary has extended to the March 8 electoral battles. Loh Gwo Burne, (ABOVE, standing at the urging of his rich father) who claimed to have filmed the video clip, was today named as Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR)'s candidate in the Kelana Jaya parliamentary seat. He faces MCA's Datuk Lee Hwa Beng, the incumbent Subang Jaya assemblyman.

Malaysian Democratic Party (MDP) secretary-general and Lawyer Wee Choo Keong (ABOVE Right) who represents lawyer V.K.Lingam’s brother, V. Thirunama Karasu, in the Lingam Video Tape Royal Commission of Inquiry is also contesting on a PKR ticket in the Wangsa Maju parliamentary seat. He is locked in a battle with MCA's incumbent Wangsa Maju MP Datuk Yew Teong Look. Announcing the full list of PKR's parliamentary candidates for Peninsular Malaysia, PKR deputy president Dr Syed Husin Ali said Loh, a businessman with a as a Master degree, has a good chance of winning in Kelana Jaya. Wee was a former DAP leader and Bukit Bintang MP. He quit DAP and formed MDP after a bitter internal power struggle. As expected, PKR de facto leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s eldest daughter Nurul Izzah will try to be a "giant slayer", contesting in Pantai Dalam against Woman, Family and Community Development Minister and Wanita Umno deputy chief Datuk Seri Shahrizat Abdul Jalil.

Anwar’s wife and PKR president Datin Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan (ABOVE Top) Ismail is defending her Permatang Pauh, the only seat the party held in the 2004 general election. It was also Anwar seat. Syed Husin said the selection of Nurul Izzah (ABOVE Below) was due to the ground support for her and not because of Anwar.
He said the full list of state candidates would be revealed by the party state liaison committees tomorrow. PKR is contesting 66 parliamentary and 126 state seats in the peninsula. "There will be one-to-one fight against the Barisan Nasional (barring the entry of Independents). This shows that the opposition parties can work together,” said Syed Husin.

He said said 24% of the parliamentary and 32% of the state seats are contested by non-Malays. "Anwar expects the party to win 25 to 30 parliamentary seats," he said. The party contested in 47 parliamentary and 72 state seats in 1999, and 48 parliamentary and 104 state seats in the last general election.
Other PKR leaders in the electoral line-up are:
Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim - secretary-general (Bandar Tun Razak)
Azmin Ali - vice-president (Gombak)
William Leong - treasurer (Selayang)
R. Sivarasa - vice-president (Subang)
Tian Chua - information chief (Batu)
Dr Lee Boon Chye - vice-president (Gopeng)
Zuraida Kamaruddin- Wanita chief (Ampang)
Shamsul Iskandar Mohd Akin - Youth chief (Dungun)

PKR's list of parliamentary candidates in Peninsular Malaysia:
KANGAR - TUNKU ABDUL RAHMAN BIN TUNKU ISMAIL
LANGKAWI - WAN SALLEH BIN WAN ISA
ALOR STAR - GOOI HSIAO LEUNG
KUALA KEDAH - AHMAD BIN KASIM
MERBOK - RASHID BIN DIN
SUNGAI PETANI - JOHARI BIN ABDUL
PADANG SERAI - GOBALAKRISHNAN A/L NAGAPN
KULIM - BANDAR BAHARU - ZULKIFLI BIN NOORDIN
KETEREH - ABDUL AZIZ
TANAH MERAH - to be confirmed
MACHANG - SAIFUDDIN NASUTION BIN ISMAIL
DUNGUN - SHAMSUL ISKANDAR @ YUSRE BIN MOHD AKIN
KEMAMAN - MOHD FARIZ BIN ABD. TALIB @ MUSA
TASEK GELUGOR - to be confirmed
PERMATANG PAUH - WAN AZIZAH BINTI WAN ISMAIL
NIBONG TEBAL - TAN TEE BENG
BAYAN BARU - ZAHRAIN MOHAMED HASHIM
BALIK PULAU - MOHD YUSMADI BIN MOHD YUSOFF
BAGAN SERAI - MOHSIN FADZLI BIN HAJI SAMSURI
PADANG RENGAS - ALIAS BIN ZENON
SUNGAI SIPUT - DR. JEYAKUMAR
TAMBUN - MOHAMAD ASRI BIN OTHMAN
GOPENG - LEE BOON CHYE
TAPAH - TAN SENG TOH
PASIR SALAK - MUSTAFFA KAMIL BIN AYUB
LUMUT - SUWARDI BIN SAPUAN
BAGAN DATOK - MADZI BIN HASAN
TANJONG MALIM - MOHAMAD AZMAN BIN MARJOHAN
INDERA MAHKOTA - AZAN BIN ISMAIL
KUANTAN - FUZIAH BINTI SALLEH
PAYA BESAR - MOHD JAFRI BIN AB RASHID
PEKAN - KHAIRUL ANNUAR AHMAD ZAINUDDIN
TEMERLOH - AHMAD NIZAM BIN HAMID
BENTONG - PONUSAMY A/L GOVINDASAMY
SABAK BERNAM - ABDRULAMIN BIN BAHRON
HULU SELANGOR - ZAINAL ABIDIN BIN AHMAD
SELAYANG - WILLIAM LEONG JEE KEEN
GOMBAK - MOHAMED AZMIN BIN ALI
AMPANG - ZURAIDA BINTI KAMARUDDIN
PANDAN - SYED SHAHIR BIN SYED MOHAMUD
KELANA JAYA - GWO BURNE LOH
PETALING JAYA SELATAN - HEE LOY SIAN
SUBANG - SIVARASA A/L K. RASISAH
KAPAR - MANIKAVASAGAM A/L SUNDARAM
KUALA LANGAT - ABDULLAH SANI BIN ABDUL HAMID
BATU - CHUA TIAN CHANG
WANGSA MAJU - WEE CHOO KEONG
SETIAWANGSA - IBRAHIM BIN YAACOB
LEMBAH PANTAI - NURUL IZZAH BINTI ANWAR
BANDAR TUN RAZAK - ABDUL KHALID BIN IBRAHIM
KUALA PILAH - ANNUAR BIN HOMD SALLEH
REMBAU - BADRUL HISHAM BIN SHAHARIN
TELOK KEMANG - KAMARUL BAHARIN BIN ABBAS
TANGGA BATU - ZAINON BINTI JAAFAR
BUKIT KATIL - KHALID BIN JAAFAR
JASIN - ZULKEFLY BIN OTHMAN
SEKJIANG - ZULKAPLY BIN SALLEH
LEDANG - LAU TEK HAI
MUAR - NAH BINTI BUDIN
SRI GADING - ALI BIN MARKOM
BATU PAHAT - MUHAMMAD BIN ABDULLAH
SEMBRONG - LEE SANG
PENGERANG - NORAZAN BIN ABDULLAH
PASIR GUDANG - MD RIZAN BIN MOHD SAMAN
GELANG PATAH - ZALIHA BINTI MUSTAFA
PONTIAN - MOHD ANNUAR BIN MOHD SALLEH

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'Penang DAP may be forced to take to the streets'

GEORGE TOWN (Feb 22, 2008): Penang DAP says it may be forced to take to the streets as there is a lack of response from the government and private property owners refusing to rent out their premises to the party for ceramah. Its state chairman Chow Kon Yeow said this was a major stumbling block to the party as ceramah and talks were DAP’s main channel for messages to voters.

Chow said: "Over the past few days, we have tried very hard to get (venues in) government and private-owned buildings, like association halls including Dewan Sri Pinang, the KOMTAR Geodesic Dome and the association halls in the city.
"They provided us with available dates but sang a different tune when we probed them on payment and explained the purpose for rent."They told us they did not want to rent out their space for political activities during this period," he said.

Seeing as the doors are shut on us, he added, we will have no choice but bring it to the streets. Acknowledging that this would result in inconvenience, including traffic congestion, Chow said: "We do not want this to happen."

He made an appeal to DAP supporters and sympathetic organisations which have open or big premises with space, including car park owners to offer their assistance on the issue.

Chow also asked for volunteers to come forward to help the party as it fights against Barisan Nasional (BN)’s heavy election machinery, and later officiated at the opening of the Bukit Bendera DAP operations centre. Also present was its candidate DAP elections strategist Liew Chin Tong who declined to speculate on his chances against Gerakan secretary-general Datuk Seri Chia Kwang Chye.

“It’s an honour to fight such a senior member of Gerakan and I thank the party for the honour. I do not want to speculate on my chances or on the voters’ decisions because anything can happen in politics. “I am here to humbly seek a mandate from the people and be their agent of change. I am not here to seek personal gain,” he told reporters. He said: "The choice is left to the voters to decide whether they are satisfied with what they have seen in the past years or if they want stronger check and balance within the government."

Liew also expressed concerned over the state’s political dominance, citing that by 2010, Penang will turn into a "second Sabah". "Gerrymandering will see unprofessional appropriation of voters within constituencies and Penang will be an Umno state by then.

"We want Penang to change this by denying Barisan Nasional the two-thirds majority to ensure that the Election Commission will not be able to redraw the boundaries and thus put a stop to Umno’s political juggernaut and preserve Penang’s passion for democracy," he added.

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Flip flopping Penang DAP legal adviser

PENANG (Feb 22, 2008): In the morning he accused the DAP of marginalising Indian leaders. In the afternoon, he called another press conference to retract his accusations and apologised to the party. The "stunt" was performed by Penang DAP legal adviser, lawyer R.S.N.Rayer, today. Rayer had threatened to contest either the Perai or Bagan Dalam state seats on March 8 as an Independent. MIC is fielding L.Krishnan in Perai to replace Datuk K.Rajapathy who won the seat after defeating DAP's Chong Eng by a 583-vote majority while Bagan Dalam incumbent P Subbaiyah will stand again. Perai has 35.52% Indian voters while Bagan Dalam has 21.79% Indian voters and many hopefuls have been clamouring to contest the seat. Rayer, 36, who claimed he has been offered the Datuk Keramat seat said the DAP should listen to the grassroots who wanted Indian leaders to be fielded there. He claimed that the voters in Perai wanted Professor P.Ramasamy to be fielded there while Bagan Dalam voters wanted him.

He said the party is planning to field Chong Eng in Perai and lawyer A.Tanase-kharan in Bagan Dalam. He said Professor P.Ramasamy, who is being fielded in Batu Kawan should be fielded in Perai as he would stand a better chance to win the seat. "I will decline the nomination if the party still fields me in Datuk Keramat. After considering the sentiments on the ground who want a strong Indian candidates to be fielded in Bagan Dalam and Perai, I am seriously considering contesting in either of these two seats as I stand a better chance than Chong Eng," he added. Rayer said if the party failed to listen to the voices of the grassroots and proceeded with its plans, he would quit the party which he joined in 1995.

ABOVE & BELOW: The triple handshake that signifies the deal amongst Chow, Karpal and Rayer

"I joined the party because I believed the party could champion the rights of all Malaysians regardless of race and religion but the decisions made by the state leadership has been unacceptable," he added. Penang DAP chairman Chow Kon Yeow, when asked about Rayer's accusations, said he has not directly received any information. "We are still finalising the line-up (for the state seats) and will be announcing it soon. It is not easy to please all parties and we cannot field candidates in places they want.
"We have to take certain decisions due to strategy and to ensure winnability."We have been trying our very best to avoid three-cornered fights and hence we even negotiated with Parti Keadilan Rakyat to achieve this objective. "We definitely do not want any individual participating to mar our chances but it is their democratic right to do so," Chow added. He called on DAP hopefuls to put the party's political interest over personal interest and hinted that any member going into the elections as an individual candidate, would be sacked from the party.

Later, in a very short but sombre emergency press conference Rayer retracted his announcement that he would contest as an independent for the Perai state seat. In the press conference attended by DAP chairman Karpal Singh and Chow, Rayer said: "I deeply regret the statement I made this morning. I unconditionally retract my statement and apologise for it." He said Karpal Singh, whom he holds as his Godfather in the party, had intervened and following that, issues – which had nothing to do with the party’s refusal to appoint him as the Perai candidate - were resolved. However, Karpal Singh was quick to add that Rayer had been indeed offered a state seat but it will be the party’s decision as to which constituency he would be fielded in. “This morning, Rayer, a staunch member and supporter of DAP, was overtaken by emotion and gave a press conference. It was because he was in that state of mind that he announced that he would contest as an independent candidate in Perai because he felt that Indians in the DAP were marginalised.
“The Indians are not marginalised. They have never been marginalised. I am an Indian, I am the chairman,” Karpal Singh said, before giving Rayer the floor. Asked if the "drama" would have an impact on voters, he said: “I don’t think it will really have any substantial effect. We will advice and explain to the voters." "Of course the Brisan Nasional will try to exploit this but this is human failing, it is human weakness. In the spur of the moment, he reacted to what he felt,” Karpal Singh said, also revealing that four – two on the island and two on the mainland – out of the 19 state seats would feature Indian candidates.
“I think it is a matter of strategy to field Indian candidates where there is a substantial number of Indian voters. There is nothing racial to it. When we announce the list tomorrow, you will see that Indians are not being marginalised,” he added. DAP is announcing its state seat candidates at 1pm in the Grand Continental Hotel on Lebuh Presgrave.
On Batu Gajah’s incumbent Fong Po Kuan's change of heart in deciding to contest, Karpal Singh said she had contacted him through telephone on Wednesday (Feb 20), after reading his plea for her to be in touch with him.
“I am very happy that she’s back. She was very emotional but I told her to reconsider her decision. I did not expect it (change of heart) because she was adamant that she did not want to recontest but she is badly needed by the party. We are encouraging the young who are taking over from us,” he said, adding that Fong is an asset to the party with her qualifications and her command of languages.“All the matters have been settled ... Bagan, Po Kuan and Rayer. We are now ready to do battle with the BN," he added.

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'Cilli Padi' Po Kuan makes a U-Turn

PETALING JAYA (Feb 22, 2008): An elated DAP veteran Lim Kit Siang announced today incumbent Batu Gajah MP Fong Po Kuan has agreed to reverse her decision not to seek re-election in the 2008 general election.

“With Po Kuan's return to the front-line of the battle, let us make up precious lost ground and enter into the 12th general election campaign with gusto and confidence, vigour and vitality,” he said in a statement. Fong, who is dubbed "Cilli Padi", shocked politicl observers when she announced on Monday (Feb 18) that she would not seek re-election, citing internal party conflicts. Lim said, however, one could not deny the fact that Fong’s action had caused harm and damage to herself, the party and the cause for justice, although she had not intended to.
“She has admitted to the great harm and that her action had unintentionally and unwittingly caused to the party, party leaders and the political momentum for change in the 12th General Election ... and she asks for the party and people's forgiveness for her mistake,” he said. “She has now bounced back to the front-line of the "Electoral Battle of the Century" and will re-constest and defend the Batu Gajah parliamentary seat.” Lim said in the discussions with Fong, they agreed to look forward and not backward to challenge the Barisan Nasional component parties.

Updated: 08:40PM Fri, 22 Feb 2008

= == Go H E RE for more details & pics on

MORE PICS from Ipoh – U Turn for Po Kuan to join “Electoral Battle of the Century” – to end BN its unbroken 2/3 majority by defending Batu Gajah- there had never been a second name for the DAP candidature for Batu Gajah again.