JOHOR BARU, March 18 — The DAP’s 52nd anniversary celebration in Ayer Hitam today is set to mark its launchpad and Pakatan Harapan’s (PH) foray into Johor, mimicking their 2013 event in Gelang Patah that eventually saw huge Opposition gains in the state.

On the same day, MCA will mobilise its Team Johor initiative in the Johor Jaya state seat, which is part of the Pasir Gudang parliamentary constituency, as Johor Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin seeks to consolidate his power base in the marginal Pasir Gudang.

Since DAP took back Ayer Hitam from Parti Amanah Negara (Amanah) last month, it has been widely speculated that Johor DAP chairman Liew Chin Tong will be fielded to go head-on with incumbent MP Datuk Seri Wee Ka Siong from MCA in the 14th general election.

If indeed Liew’s candidacy is announced, the stage today is set to make Ayer Hitam the next Gelang Patah for Johor this time round, where the battle will begin for DAP with MCA’s state number one and also the party’s number two man.

Johor DAP publicity secretary Wong Shu Qi confirmed the party will announce its Ayer Hitam candidate during the anniversary celebrations today, but declined to name the personality.

"We would like to keep it as a surprise on the day. But it will be similar to our past announcement when (Lim) Kit Siang was named as the Gelang Patah candidate in 2013,” she told Malay Mail Friday.

Wong also did not deny the possibility that DAP and their PH allies will use Ayer Hitam as a "campaign base” for the coming general election.

In the 2013 election, DAP and the then Pakatan Rakyat, which at that time included PAS, launched their Johor campaign in Skudai under the Gelang Patah federal constituency that was used for the Opposition pact’s ceramahs and rallies.

DAP supremo Lim edged out former Johor Mentri Besar Datuk Abdul Ghani Othman by 14,762 votes. Lim picked up 54,284 votes to Ghani’s 39,522.

Wong, who is also the Senai assemblyman, said the event today is scheduled from 10am to 12pm and will be a major national event for DAP.

"We expect around 1,000 people for the party’s anniversary event that will see the attendance from the party’s top national and state leaders, as well as PH leaders,” she said.

The event is scheduled to be attended by the party’s national chairman Tan Kok Wai, deputy chairman Gobind Singh Deo, secretary-general Lim Guan Eng, deputy secretary-general Nga Kor Ming.

The party’s Johor state leaders, led by Liew, will also attend. There is also the possibility that incumbent DAP Damansara Utama assemblyman Yeo Bee Yin will make an appearance in her home state as she will be one of the party’s candidates.

MCA expects 5,000-strong crowd

On the same day, further south to the state capital, MCA is expecting a 5,000-strong crowd to attend the party’s "Support MCA, Strengthen Team Johor” event in Johor Jaya, Johor Baru, from 2pm to 5pm.

The event will kickstart the BN state initiative of Team Johor, which is under Johor Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin. An announcement for the Johor Jaya state seat candidate is expected to be made by MCA president Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai.

It is widely known that Pasir Gudang MCA chairman Tan Cher Puk will be the party’s favourite for Johor Jaya, which he had held for two terms before 2013.

In GE13, DAP’s Liow Cai Tung took a 1,460-vote majority with 22,879 votes against Tan’s 21,419 for Johor Jaya.

However, the state seat of Johor Jaya has been a thorn for the ruling BN since it went to DAP in 2013, as this puts the Pasir Gudang parliamentary constituency on shaky ground for BN.

Both Permas, helmed by Mohamed Khaled, and Johor Jaya state seats make up the Pasir Gudang parliamentary constituency held by BN’s Normala Abdul Samad. Normala won Pasir Gudang with a majority of less than 1,000 votes.

Of late, there are rumours within the state Umno pointing towards Mohamed Khaled contesting both his Permas state seat as well as the Pasir Gudang parliamentary seat for the coming general election.

However, such a move will run contrary to Umno’s and BN’s tradition of only fielding one candidate for either parliament or state.

When contacted, Tan declined to comment on his candidacy and said he will leave it to BN’s and MCA’s national leadership for their announcement and endorsement.

When asked if the choice of Johor Jaya for the event was due to Mohamed Khaled consolidating his power base in Pasir Gudang, Tan said it was possible.

"Datuk Seri’s (Mohamed Khaled) state seat is Permas and together with Johor Jaya, that makes up the Pasir Gudang parliamentary constituency where it was his Umno power base when he was in federal government,” he said.

On today’s event, Tan said it was a programme under the Team Johor initiative as part of BN’s vision for the state.

"It’s basically a state BN initiative that is supported by MCA’s national leadership,” he said.