Loke sets record straight: Syefura more popular than Wong Tack in Bentong

DAP’s candidate selection for the Bentong constituency has set off a series of events which eventually saw incumbent MP Wong Tack announcing he would defend his seat as an independent after he was dropped by the party in favour of Young Syefura Othman.

Confusion reigned among the public and party supporters, who questioned why Wong was not put up as a candidate by DAP in the upcoming 15th general election (GE15).

In an exclusive interview with Malaysiakini, DAP secretary-general Anthony Loke is now setting the record straight, insisting that Wong’s omission was mainly because Young Syefura is seen to be more popular with locals compared to Wong.

Loke (above) said this is based on the results of a Merdeka Centre survey in Bentong, commissioned by DAP, as well as the recommendations from the Pahang DAP state committee.

“We found out that our current incumbent is not that popular on the ground. This is something we only make public (because) we think there is a need to explain because Bentong has become quite contentious after we made the (candidate) announcement,” Loke said in the interview at the DAP headquarters today.

Majority dissatisfied with incumbent

Referring to the survey, which was conducted between May and June, he said the respondents in Bentong showed low levels of satisfaction with the performance of their incumbent MP Wong, with only 30 percent saying they were satisfied, while 55 percent were dissatisfied with him.

Notably, even among the Chinese, who are DAP’s core supporters, Wong scored a low satisfaction rating of 38 percent, while 51 percent of Chinese respondents said they were dissatisfied with him.

He also scored badly among Malay respondents, with only 19 percent satisfied with his performance as their elected representative.

On the other hand, Young Syefura, who is the incumbent state assemblyperson for Ketari, scored an overall satisfaction rating of 60 percent in the survey, while 21 percent were dissatisfied with her performance.

Ketari is a state seat that falls under the Bentong parliamentary seat.

Young Syefura did well among Malay and Chinese respondents, with 68 and 54 percent saying they were satisfied with her performance, respectively. However, she did poorly among Indian respondents, with only 17 percent satisfied.

“The other reference point why we made the choice of going with Young Syefura is that one of the questions we asked respondents is how receptive are you towards voting for a candidate who is not of your ethnic background.

“Among the respondents, the Chinese are the most likely to vote for someone not of their racial background. This is something quite normal… but even I was surprised by how high the number was (as) 96 percent of Chinese said it was no problem,” Loke said.

Finally, the last parameter the party looked at when choosing the candidate was that a majority of Bentong voters said their primary voting factor was having local candidates.

Loke said this does not mean it has to be someone from the area, but rather someone who is known to the people of the area.

“From the survey, we can conclude a few issues… candidates are an important issue (to Bentong voters) and we know the most popular incumbent is Young Syefura, so scientifically, we have concluded she is the most winnable candidate,” Loke said.

‘Wong must back up support claim’

Loke claimed Wong had disputed the survey results, saying that it does not reflect the sentiment on the ground and that he has his own supporters, especially from his days leading the environmental group Himpunan Hijau.

The DAP secretary-general said he did not want to argue with Wong on this as the survey was not the final factor in the party’s decision-making.

“Of course, we have observations and feedback from the ground and most importantly, the recommendations from Pahang DAP state committee,” Loke said.

The state committee had recommended Young Syefura as their first option for Bentong with incumbent Bilut assemblyperson Lee Chin Chen as the second option, which Loke said is in line with the survey results.

Wong cannot just say he has good support in the area, he must also have evidence to back up his claims, Loke said.

He said it is also an “open secret” in Bentong that Wong Tack did not have a good relationship with the local assemblypersons.

“In order to resolve this issue, I thought the best way is to offer Cameron Highlands to him (Wong), which is also in Pahang and is a constituency that is really suitable for a candidate like Wong,” Loke said.

This is because Wong first rose to prominence as an environmental activist and Cameron Highlands also faces many environmental issues.

Loke said he explained all this in his meeting with Wong and Hew Kuan Yau, popularly known as Superman, last Saturday, in which Wong said he would need 24 hours to discuss with his supporters before deciding.

However, Loke only received news on Monday night from Hew that Wong decided to reject the party’s offer to contest in Cameron Highlands.

“I considered that as his final decision so I have to move on. By Tuesday, I made up my mind that we have to go back to our alternative option, that is for (incumbent Tanah Rata assemblyperson) Chiong Yoke Kong to stand in Cameron Highlands,” he said.

No party action until nomination

By Wednesday, Loke announced their four parliamentary candidates for Pahang, which are Chiong, Young Syefura, Chow Yu Hui (Raub) and Tengku Zulpuri Shah Raja Puji (Lipis).

Shortly after, Wong announced he would contest Bentong as an independent candidate under the “people’s ticket” in GE15, saying that he remains committed to serving his constituents.

He said he has no interest in playing party politics and that he was told he did not fit into the party’s grand strategy for the general election.

Disappointed with Wong’s reaction, Loke said he hopes the anti-Lynas activist will reconsider running for Bentong as an independent candidate after receiving feedback from the people.

He said if Wong goes forward with his plan to run as an independent candidate, he would be automatically sacked as a party member.

“The moment he (Wong) files that nomination paper, he will be dismissed as a DAP member. But at this point in time, we will not take any action because he is just talking about his intention,” Loke said.

Wong had contested in Bentong against MCA’s Liow Tiong Lai twice. He first lost in 2013 with a razor-thin 379 vote difference before winning against Liow in 2018 with a 2,032 majority.

This time in GE15, Young Syefura is expected to take on Liow in Bentong as well.

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