Johor PKR chief Chua Jui Meng is still leading the charge for the party's election machinery in the crucial southern state despite suggestions that he was upset over the decision to field DAP supremo Lim Kit Siang in the Gelang Patah parliamentary seat earlier this week.

PKR leaders told Malaysiakini yesterday that Chua, a former MCA leader and cabinet minister, is nowhere near quitting the party but they conceded that Chua has not made any public appearance since PKR de facto leader Anwar Ibrahim gave Gelang Patah to DAP.

NONE "He is not taking any public speaking engagements now. But work is still ongoing. He is still asking people to go to the ground and do work," said Johor PKR election director Steven Choong.

Chua and Johor DAP chief Dr Boo Cheng Hau had been at loggerheads over which party is to contest Gelang Patah before Lim was announced as Pakatan Rakyat's candidate for the seat.

According to the Johor PKR election director, Chua has "first option" to choose which seat he wants to contest in Johor.

"For all the seats where the candidate has not been announced, he has the first option to choose where he wants to go," said Choong.

Rumours of Chua being unhappy with Anwar over Lim's candidature in Gelang Patah have been circulating in several vernacular press reports this week, citing party sources as saying Chua might take leave or even quit the party.

But PKR vice-president Tian Chua said the rumours are "not true at all".

Asked whether there are problems in the state relating to Chua's unhappiness, he merely said, "We will be able to settle it."

Similarly, fellow PKR vice-president N Surendran claimed that Chua "remains committed" to the Pakatan cause and will help dislodge BN in a state that is largely considered to have been the ruling coalition's stronghold for decades.

Segamat, Bakri or Muar?

With Lim being fielded in Gelang Patah, 69-year-old Chua is now expected to contest in one of three other parliamentary seats which are still up for grabs - Segamat, Bakri or Muar.

dap 47 th anniversary celebration in johor 180313 09 anwar kit siang Segamat seems to be the likeliest choice for Chua, and Anwar had been quoted as saying before that PKR and DAP are negotiating the possibility of letting PKR contest Segamat, a seat currently held by MIC's Dr S Subramaniam and which had been contested by DAP in the last election.

Subramaniam defeated DAP's Pang Hok Liong with a majority of 2,991 votes in the last election, but the party are believed to be confident of winning the seat as it is a mixed seat with 47 percent of Chinese constituents.

Bakri , currently held by DAP's Er Teck Hwa, remains a possibility as Chua was Bakri's MP for 22 years during his time with MCA and did not contest the seat in the 2008 election.

Muar , the neighbouring constituency to Bakri, also remains an appealing option to Chua as he is known to be popular around the area and the seat was contested by PKR before, the only hindrance being that the seat is a Malay-majority area and Malay candidates are normally fielded there.

In 2008, Umno's Razali Ibrahim won against PKR's Nah Budin with a majority of 4,661 votes. Malays make up an overwhelming 62 percent of the electorate in Muar, followed by Chinese at 36 percent and Indians making up the remaining one percent.

The question of whether all is well again in Johor PKR is expected to be answered tonight when Anwar makes a trip to Johor Baru, where he is expected to announce Pakatan's candidate for the Johor Baru seat.

Chua did not make an appearance when Lim was announced as the candidate for Gelang Patah on Monday, and it remains to be seen if he will finally make his first public appearance in nearly a week tonight.

Chua left MCA and joined PKR in July 2009, citing the need to maintain a two-party system that has emerged in the country after the 2008 general election.

Efforts to contact Chua for his comments were unsuccessful.

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