GEORGE TOWN, May 12 — DAP looks set to win the Bukit Gelugor parliamentary by-election on May 25 but Ramkarpal Singh Deo, the party’s chosen candidate, isn’t taking the task lightly.
Barisan Nasional (BN) component party — MCA — has opted out of the race in which Ramkarpal is the clear frontrunner.
“We must not be over-confident, we can’t take this lightly and it will still be a fight till the very end,” he said in his speech at the opening of a PKR Bukit Gelugor by-election operations centre at Bingham Road.
DAP will face Parti Cinta Malaysia’s Huan Cheng Guan and two independent candidates, Mohd Nabi Bux Mohd Sathar and Abu Bakar Sidek Mohamad Zain.
Ramkarpal, the third son of the late Bukit Gelugor MP Karpal Singh, said DAP must continue fighting in this by-election to create a momentum it needs for the Teluk Intan by-election on May 31.
The Bukit Gelugor parliamentary seat fell vacant after Karpal was killed in a car crash on April 17.
The death of Seah Leong Peng on May 1 triggered a by-election in Teluk Intan.
Ramkarpal said the Pakatan Rakyat coalition is united to fight a common cause.
“All I am asking now is for voters here to let me continue to be the voice of Karpal Singh in Parliament,” he said.
PAS Parit Buntar MP Datuk Dr Mujahid Yusof Rawa said PAS is firmly behind DAP in this by-election.
“It is not just a battle field for Bukit Gelugor but for the whole of Malaysia to show BN that the people still strongly support PR,” he said.
For his part, PKR deputy president Mohamed Azmin Ali said the party strongly supports DAP and its candidate, Ramkarpal, in the by-election.
“This is a very crucial by-election as garnering a massive majority in it will send a strong message to BN that we are here to stay,” he said.
PR’s aims now is to encourage more voters to come back out in kage numbers on May 25, he added.
There are 82,431 registered voters in Bukit Gelugor.
