GEORGE TOWN, May 20 ― DAP’s candidate for the Teluk Intan by-election Dyana Sofya Mohd Daud was picked on merit, not looks, party secretary-general Lim Guan Eng said today.

The Penang chief minister rejected sexist claims that the party is banking on Dyana Sofya’ s good looks to win votes.

“We have never focused on her looks, our emphasis has always been her merits and the fact that she is a capable lawyer,” he told a press conference at the state legislative assembly today.

“I think that we should not have this type of sexist attitude when it comes to a female candidate,” he added.

DAP picked 26-year-old lawyer Dyana Sofya over more seasoned options to contest the Teluk Intan by-election at the end of May.

The party’s choice of an inexperienced young Malay woman to run in an ethnic Chinese majority constituency has raised eyebrows across the country.

Lim said volumes have been said about DAP’s pick of Dyana Sofya for Teluk Intan compared with the also-personable Bukit Gelugor candidate Ramkarpal Singh.

“No one mentioned Bukit Gelugor candidate Ramkarpal Singh Deo's looks, even though he is also good looking, or put up fake pictures of him in his swimming trunks,” Lim said.

Despite the party championing Dyana Sofya's credentials as a young and principled professional, the 26-year-old has been in the limelight mostly for her youthful good looks.

The former political aide to DAP veteran Lim Kit Siang will be going up against two-term former Teluk Intan member of parliament, Gerakan president Datuk Mah Siew Keong in the May 31 by-election.

Lim said he believes that DAP is still the underdog.

“Based on the response at our first ceramah last night, we believe we are making headway,” the Penang chief minister said.

He reminded voters that Dyana Sofya is a capable lawyer who stands her ground and that her youth or seeming inexperience should not be an issue.

“If they say she's too young at 26, then why do we allow 21-year-olds to vote? As for experience, I didn't have experience as a chief minister before I became one in 2008 but it was not an issue,” he said.