KUALA LUMPUR, April 10 — Incumbent Kepong MP Tan Seng Giaw, who held office for 36 years, said he would not be defending his seat as an independent after DAP dropped him from the election.
Tan, who has held the Kepong parliament seat for eight consecutive terms since 1982, said he respected his party’s decision to move incumbent Segambut MP Lim Lip Eng to his seat in the 14th general election.
“Such is the fluctuations of politics and the decision made by party headquarters must be followed,’’ he told Malay Mail.
When asked whether he would contest as an independent and go up against Lim, Tan said no.
When asked further on whether he would help Lim campaign in Kepong, Tan said he would leave such decisions to the people.
“I will let the people decide and see what they want.”
However, Tan said he will continue to serve the people in Kepong and was humbled by the chance to do so.
“I still have my office in Kepong and people can still call me and make appointments to see me if they need any help. I'm here to stay and serve as best I could.
“In fact I just came back from an event in Kepong and there an unusual high number of people there today to see me,’’ he said.
Tan was rumoured to have fallen out of favour with the party leadership because of his criticism of the Penang government in managing environmental issues.
He also said in 2016 as Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee vice-chairman that caretaker Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak should not be held accountable over state investment firm 1Malaysia Development Berhad’s (1MDB) dealings.
DAP announced last night that former Selangor legislative assembly Speaker Hannah Yeoh would move to Segambut, but she would not be defending her Subang Jaya state seat.
The other Kuala Lumpur federal seats of Cheras, Seputeh and Bukit Bintang will be contested by their incumbents Tan Kok Wai, Teresa Kok and Fong Kui Lun respectively.
