GE14 | A day after MCA's Koh Nai Kwong belatedly accepted his appointment letter for the Malacca state seat of Machap Jaya, his opponent, PKR's Ginie Lim, has started using this as campaign fodder against him.

Reminding Machap Jaya voters that she has been working in the constituency for 10 years, she pointed out that Machap Jaya was not Koh's first choice.

"I am honoured to face a former MP of BN, Koh, because he has been an MP, but now he is turning to a state seat.

"But I am also sympathetic with the people of Machap because Machap is not his first choice, whereas I have been here from day one, for 10 years," Lim said after attending the official announcement of Malacca Pakatan Harapan candidates in Bukit Baru today.

Machap Jaya is a state seat that falls under the Alor Gajah parliamentary seat, which Koh, who is the incumbent Alor Gajah MP, has been serving.

Reportedly, Koh had requested 24 hours from the announcement of Malacca BN candidates on Monday to decide on his appointment letter.

This came after Koh was shifted from the Alor Gajah parliamentary seat to the Machap Jaya state seat to make way for caretaker prime minister Najib Abdul Razak's political secretary, Wong Nai Chee, despite protests by the MCA grassroots.

Koh (photo) had requested the 24 hours to decide on the appointment letter so that he could discuss with the MCA grassroots members about his seat swap.

"Alor Gajah MCA asked me to accept the candidacy in Machap Jaya. With their support, I have accepted (the candidacy)," he said.

MCA grassroots rallied in support of Koh

When speculation first arose about Koh being moved to Machap Jaya to make way for Wong, Alor Gajah MCA grassroots members had rallied outside the Machap Baru MCA branch in support of Koh remaining in Alor Gajah.

MCA only won the Machap Jaya state seat by a razor-thin 152-vote majority in the last general election.

In contrast, MCA swept Alor Gajah with a majority of 11,597 votes, the party's highest majority win in 2013.

On the other hand, Lim has been PKR's candidate for Machap Jaya, previously known as Machap, for the past two general elections since 2008.

Though PKR vice-president and Malacca PKR chief Shamsul Iskandar Md Akin was initially slated to contest in Machap Jaya this coming election, he declined the seat.

He backed Lim as the Machap Jaya candidate instead, citing her continued work in the constituency.

Lim was later selected again as the Machap Jaya candidate in the PKR official candidates' list released on Tuesday.

Having worked the Machap Jaya area since 2008, Lim is a familiar face and name in that constituency.

When Malaysiakini visited Machap Baru, a small town in the Machap Jaya constituency in February this year, many of the residents interviewed appeared to know her quite well.

For example, a restaurant owner in Machap Baru, Tai Chee Fong, said that he had been greeting Lim as his "future assemblyperson".

This general election will mark the third time Lim will contest the Machap Jaya seat.