Batu Pahat PKR is not perturbed by speculation that MCA president Dr Chua Soi Lek could contest the BN stronghold, pointing out that young voters will not be impressed by his track record in the parliamentary constituency.

NONE "... (It) will strengthen the chances of PKR and Pakatan Rakyat to grab this seat,” claimed Batu Pahat PKR division chief and central leadership council member Syed Hamid Ali (left) .

"Aside from the shameful incident involving Chua in Batu Pahat, most of the Chinese voters (there) comprise young voters who are not influenced by his past record as the people's representative."

Syed Hamid, the younger brother of PKR deputy head Syed Husin, made these comments at a press conference in Batu Pahat yesterday.

He was responding to a Malaysiakini report last Friday, stating that MCA may swap a seat with Umno to allow Chua to contest in Batu Pahat, his strongest political base.

NONE Chua (right) was a four-term Penggaram assemblyperson and three-term Johor exco member.

Penggaram is one of three state seats within the Batu Pahat parliamentary constituency where Chua has enjoyed victory in all four electoral outings, with a majority exceeding 10,000 votes.

Elaborating, Syed Hamid said the 13th general election will be decided by voters of all races who are below 30, and who form the majority of the Batu Pahat PKR election machinery.

"This has strengthened PKR’s confidence that it has a good chances in Batu Pahat, regardless of which candidate and which BN component party contests (the seat)," he said.

Chua himself has refused to respond to the speculation.

Asked to comment last Friday, he had replied: "That one, did the prime minister tell you or what? If not, I don’t hold much to it.

"If it came from the prime minister, I should thank you because you are the first to tell me that, my dear friend."

This had triggered giggles among the reporters at the press conference.