KUALA LUMPUR, June 3 — DAP’s Ong Kian Ming today suggested that local party “warlords” may have been among the factors behind the controversy surrounding Marina Ibrahim’s decision not to defend her Skudai seat in the upcoming state election.

In a lengthy Facebook post, Ong said he believed there were broader considerations behind the proposal for Marina to leave Skudai and contest the more challenging Tiram seat in Pasir Gudang.

“I suspect there were other factors at play including certain ‘warlords’ in Skudai/Iskandar Puteri who wanted the Skudai seat for themselves or someone close to them,” he wrote.

Ong was commenting on the ongoing debate over Marina’s decision after the first-term assemblyman announced last week that she would not seek re-election and was stepping away from frontline politics.

The former Bangi MP also disclosed that Marina was not initially the preferred choice for Skudai when DAP was planning its candidate lineup ahead of the 2022 Johor state election.

According to Ong, there were originally plans to field current Bangi MP Syahredzan Johan in the Iskandar Puteri parliamentary seat, which was expected to be vacated following DAP veteran Lim Kit Siang’s retirement from frontline politics.

Under that arrangement, he said, it would have been difficult for the party to field two Malay candidates — one for Parliament and another for the state seat — within the same area.

He said circumstances changed after he informed party leaders of his intention to vacate the Bangi parliamentary seat in favour of Syahredzan.

“When the party leaders knew of my intention to vacate the Bangi parliament seat, the opportunity to field Marina in Skudai came into the picture,” he said.

Ong also argued that DAP’s practice of moving leaders from safe seats to more challenging constituencies is a long-standing strategy used to expand the party’s reach.

He cited party veterans and leaders including Lim Kit Siang, Lim Guan Eng, Liew Chin Tong, Nga Kor Ming and Teo Nie Ching as examples of those who left relatively secure seats to contest in more challenging areas.

At the same time, Ong praised Marina for choosing not to engage in internal manoeuvring to retain her seat.

He said the Skudai assemblyman could have delayed announcing her decision until candidate selections were finalised, potentially placing pressure on party leaders to retain her.

“She probably could have gotten her way to remain in Skudai because it would have looked bad on the party to ‘push out’ a young and capable Malay assemblyman.

“But kudos to her for making a principled decision not to contest rather than to leave the party leadership in a difficult position,” he wrote.

Ong also defended Johor DAP chairman Teo Nie Ching, rejecting suggestions that she had acted with ill intent in proposing Marina’s move to Tiram.

“I do not think that Nie Ching bore any malice towards Marina in suggesting that she move to the difficult state seat of Tiram in Pasir Gudang to contest there,” he wrote.

The remarks come after a reported offer of a position in a statutory body to Marina following her decision to leave electoral politics.

Ong defended the proposal, saying such appointments are a common way for former elected representatives to continue serving the public.

He cited several examples, including Johor DAP vice-chairman Sheikh Omar Ali, who chaired the Malaysian Pineapple Industry Board after losing his state seat in 2022 before later being appointed a senator.

Former Selangor executive councillor Ean Yong Hian Wah was also appointed chairman of the Port Klang Authority after stepping aside from electoral politics, he noted.

“I think that the offer for a position on a statutory board to Marina was made with good intentions by Nie Ching. This is a way to ensure that someone like Marina continues to serve the people of Johor and Malaysia in a different capacity,” he said.

Johor DAP has accepted Marina’s decision not to defend Skudai, while Teo has denied claims that Marina was offered a position in a government-linked company, saying discussions instead involved a role in a statutory body focused on welfare matters.