Opposition party DAP is looking at moving its chairperson Karpal Singh from his Bukit Gelugor parliamentary constituency and to another DAP fortress, Bagan, in the coming general election.

lim kit siang dap pc 130208 guan eng The idea behind the move is to allow party secretary-general Lim Guan Eng to contest and win in a ‘safe’ seat.

However, although such a move would provide winnable seats to both Lim and Karpal, it would also create a new headache for party leadership, in the form of Bagan ’s incumbent MP Lim Hock Seng.

Party insiders cautioned that such a move may not be well-received by Hock Seng, 60, a staunch party loyalist, who first won the Bagan MP seat in 1990 general election.

Prior to that he won the Bagan Jermal state seat in the 1986 general election.

bagan parliamentary seat election results 180108 During the disastrous DAP's `Tanjung 3' project in the 1995 general election, Hock Seng left his safe Bagan seat to party stalwart P Patto, and contested and lost in the Bukit Tengah state constituency.

However, he bounced back to win the Bagan parliamentary seat in a by-election, as a result of incumbent Patto’s death in 1995.

Several party veterans recalled Hock Seng's tantrums when in the 1995 general election, he was so upset with the party decision to allot a state, not parliament, seat to him that he closed down his operation centres in Bagan and `went missing' for some time.

It took some persuasion by top party leaders to soothe him.

Party above self for Hock Seng

However, a party observer said this time, a "matured" Hock Seng, who is also Penang DAP vice chairman, may accept the leadership decision to safeguard party interests above of his own.

karpal singh and dap 120106 "After all, it is the national party chairperson Karpal Singh who will contest in Bagan, not a newcomer or lower level party leader," said the observer.

When contacted, Hock Seng said although he was keen to seek re-election in Bagan, he would accept any decision by the party leadership.

"The party interests come first to me, not my own.

"But if the party tells me to make way and contest a state seat, then I would accept and execute my task effectively," he told Malaysiakini .

Hock Seng is likely to be given the Bagan Jermal state, which is under Bagan.

Sources said Karpal Singh was first reluctant to contemplate the idea to vacant his Bukit Gelugor seat and opt for Bagan.

However, several major reasons have apparently convinced Karpal to agree to the leadership proposal.

Rejuvenating and revitalising

bukit gelugor parliamentary seat election results 180108 Firstly, since Lim had been "invited" by Penang DAP to boost the party's flagging political fortune, it is imperative that the secretary general be given a winnable parliamentary to get back into real politik action.

He has arrived in Penang to spearhead the electoral campaign and rejuvenate the party's flagging fortune.

After its heady days in the 1990 general election, Penang DAP has had been on a free fall since the 1995 `Tanjung 3' debacle. In each of the last three elections, the party has won only a single state seat, a far cry from the 14 seats it captured 18 years ago.

Rejuvenating and revitalising Penang DAP are the main reasons behind the party's move to bring along three more credible `outside' candidates - DAP International Affairs Bureau secretary Professor P Ramasamy, Lim's election strategy advisor Liew Chin Tong and party e-campaign director Jeff Ooi, a prominent blogger.

The DAP will contest in seven federal and 19 state seats in Penang this time.

Lim, who was the Kota Melaka MP between 1986 and 1995, missed the previous two elections because of the automatic six-year ban from electoral politics connected to his sedition conviction in 1998. He is fresher and raring to go now to take the party to new heights.

Karpal Singh’s move to Bagan would also be a morale booster to the DAP team contesting in Bagan Dalam, Sungai Puyu and Bagan Jermal state seats under constituency, neighbouring Batu Kawan federal and Perai state seat.