GE14 | DAP's Ong Boon Piow will face disciplinary action for unilaterally declaring academic Abdul Aziz Bari as his successor in the Perak state seat of Tebing Tinggi.

DAP national organising secretary Anthony Loke said this following Ong's announcement at a ceramah on Friday night.

"I would like to stress that the announcement did not receive the permission or mandate of the DAP secretary-general.

"Normally, any announcement of Pakatan Harapan's candidates from DAP will be announced by the DAP secretary-general or leaders from the central executive committee, who have been given the mandate by the secretary-general.

"The announcement done by Ong is a violation of party discipline, and he will be referred to the disciplinary committee for further action," Loke said in a statement just after midnight today.

Aziz's candidacy has been seen as a possible conduit for DAP to take the menteri besar position in Perak should Pakatan Harapan recapture the state.

The Perak constitution requires its menteri besar to be a Malay.

In the last the general election, DAP emerged as the biggest party in Perak Pakatan Rakyat and its successor Pakatan Harapan. However, all of its elected representatives were non-Malays.

DAP's Harapan partners, particularly Bersatu, have lobbied for the party not to field a Malay candidate in Perak state seats, due to concerns that the move may spook conservative Malay voters.

BN has repeatedly played on the spectre that DAP, which it paints as a 'Chinese party', might take over the state and subvert Malay interests.

Loke said he regretted any confusion that arose from Ong's unilateral announcement.

Aziz previously said his possible candidacy lay with the DAP central leadership, and downplayed the likelihood of him being a potential menteri besar candidate if Harapan wins Perak.

'No ill intent'

When contacted by Malaysiakini, Ong said his act was unintentional and will send an apology to the party leadership.

“I only wanted to introduce him to take over my job in Tebing Tinggi, and hope people would cooperate (with him).

“But I will cooperate with the (disciplinary) investigation,” he said.

“I have no intention or purpose to bypass the central leadership to announce a candidate,” he said, adding he has sent the party a letter of apology.