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DAP to decide next week who will run in Bukit Gelugor by-election

Kerajaan Pulau Pinang nafi peruntukan RM1.5 bilion untuk PPS

The DAP central executive committee will discuss candidature of the Bukit Gelugor parliamentary seat for the upcoming by-election when it meets next Monday.

Its secretary-general Lim Guan Eng said party leaders have, in the meantime, been told to refrain from making any announcement on the by-election to avoid distortion by mainstream media.

The seat was held by the late Karpal Singh who was killed in a tragic road accident a week ago.

Lim (pic, top left) also said that until next Monday, he and Penang DAP chairman Chow Kon Yeow will act as the spokesmen on the preparations for the by-election.

He said acting DAP national chairman Tan Kok Wai will be by-election director, while Chow will be the state by-election director.

"The Penang DAP committee will meet this evening while the CEC meeting will be on Monday in Kuala Lumpur to discuss election preparations.

"Candidature will be discussed by the CEC and decided by the DAP candidature committee headed by myself, and comprising Tan and (party advisor) Lim Kit Siang," he said in a statement today.

Lim described the upcoming by-election as a difficult one because it is unlikely that the party can repeat the huge 41,778-vote majority won by Karpal in the 2013 general election.

"After all, who can match the irreplaceable Karpal?

"For this reason, nothing should be taken for granted and there must be a concerted effort to bring out the vote in Bukit Gelugor on May 25," he said.

The Election Commission this morning announced that nomination day for the Bukit Gelugor by-election is on May 12 and polling will be on May 25.

Karpal, 73, was an eight-term MP for Bukit Gelugor and Jelutong, as well as a four-term state assemblyman in Kedah and Penang.

He was DAP national chairman from 2004 until late last month. He joined the party in December 1970 and won his first election in 1974 in Kedah. – April 24, 2014.