DAP introduced Segamat DAP division chairman Pang Hok Liong as the party’s candidate for the Labis parliamentary seat in GE14.
Johor DAP chairman Liew Chin Tong also announced yesterday that Johor DAP deputy chief Dr S Ramakrishnan, 62, will contest the Bekok state seat. He will replace incumbent Bekok assemblyman Lim Eng Guan in GE14.
Pang’s candidacy laid to rest weeks of speculation surrounding DAP’s choice of candidate to go against incumbent Datuk Chua Tee Yong.
The Labis seat had become a bone of contention after several DAP leaders, including Gobind Singh Deo, Teo Nie Ching and Dr Boo Cheng Hau, refused to be relocated here.
Pang, a 61-year-old lawyer, said he was ready to contest in Labis as he was a local boy.
He was the party’s state chief from 1993 to 2005. In the 2008 general election, he was fielded for the Segamat parliamentary seat where he lost to MIC’s Datuk Seri Dr S Subramaniam by 2,991 votes.
Dr Ramakrishnan lost in Labis in 2013 to Chua by 353 votes.
Meanwhile, DAP advisor Lim Kit Siang said the choice of Pang for Labis was the “best approach” to secure a win.
However, he refused to reveal Boo’s fate after the latter’s refusal to contest the Labis seat.