Himpunan Hijau chairperson Wong Tack will be standing as a candidate for the Bentong Parliamentary seat on a DAP ticket.

azlan This was confirmed during a press conference by DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng today.

“DAP is happy to announce that we have reached an agreement with Himpunan Hijau, in which its chairperson Wong Tack will be contesting in Bentong on a DAP ticket.

“DAP believes that the candidacy of Wong Tack will give a positive impact for Pakatan to win Bentong,” Lim said.

Wong’s candidacy, Lim added, was unanimously agreed by the central leadership of DAP.

Bentong is a MCA stronghold currently represented by MCA vice-president Liow Tiong Lai, who is also the health minister.

In the 2008 general election, Liow defeated PKR candidate G Ponusamy by a majority of 12,549 votes, making it an uphill task for Wong to unseat the MCA leader.

Wong is best known for heading one of the most vocal and well-organised opponents against the Lynas rare earth refinery.

Wong was raised in Karak, Pahang, while Liow is from Jasin, Malacca. 

To a question on why he chose DAP and not other Pakatan parties, Wong said this is the Pakatan leadership’s decision.

dap wong tack bentong ceramah 20130312 06 lim guan eng Lim ( right ) jested that there is no need to do a comparison between PKR and DAP.

Asked on whether DAP has settled the issue with PKR, which contested Bentong in the last general election, Pahang DAP chief Leong Ngah Ngah said Bentong had been a traditional seat for DAP until 2008.

DAP national organising secretary Anthony Loke added that Wong’s candidacy has been agreed to by Pakatan, including PKR de facto leader Anwar Ibrahim. 

However, when contacted, a number of PKR leaders refused to comment on the matter, indicating that the issue is yet to be resolved by the two parties.