Fong to be squeezed out of Batu Gajah?

Are Batu Gajah voters about to see a new member of Parliament in the coming general election?

Rumours are flying that the incumbent MP DAP’s Fong Po Kuan is being pressured by her party to relinquish the seat and contest elsewhere. Apparently the party wants to let the Pantai Remis state representative Nga Kor Ming to contest in Batu Gajah.

Sources say that Fong, a two-term Batu Gajah MP, was not happy to be forced to relinquish her seat and has instead decided not to contest in any seat.

When contacted by Malaysiakini for comment, Fong refused to confirm her situation, instead directed all queries to the Perak DAP chairperson Ngeh Koo Ham and secretary Nga.

However when contacted, Ngeh, who is also the Sitiawan state representative, denied that the party had asked Fong to give up her Batu Gajah seat. In fact he said that Fong would have the full backing of the state committee if she wants to retain her seat.

"Perak DAP committee supports her to contest in Batu Gajah. Her performance was approved by the constituents and she is likely to contest there again," he said.

He also denied that he had suggested to Fong to contest in another constituency, or to contest in Johor, her husband's hometown.

"Perak DAP committee didn't ask her any questions regarding her candidacy and she didn't declare her stance too. This is not an issue. I wonder from where you heard these rumours," he added.

Family first

He also said that he himself had heard speculation that Fong would contesting in Johor. Last January, Fong got married to Johor DAP organising secretary Tan Chen Choon.

And he added that it was not wrong for Fong to contest in Johor, since politicians must take care of their families first before they could serve the people.

Ngeh was also asked if his cousin Nga would be defending Pantai Remis state seat, to which he said that the party has decided to let him stay put in the seat.

Similarly, when contacted, Nga also denied that he was going to contest in Batu Gajah. However he said that he would adhere to party instructions if he was assigned to do so.

Rumours of Fong not contesting in her Batu Gajah seat was further fuelled by her farewell message to her voters in her blog.

In her message dated Feb 14, Fong thanked her voters for their support for her.

“I would also like to apologise if I have done or said anything which hurt you during this two terms as your elected representative,” she added.

Her message drew comments from the readers of the blog, asking her to contest in the seat.

Teresa Kok gets two seats

Fong became an overnight celebrity when she contested and won the Batu Gajah seat in her maiden attempt in 1999. She was only 26-years-old then.

She went on to retain the seat in 2004 by defeating the present MCA secretary-general Ong Ka Chuan, with an even higher majority.

While Fong’s situation seemed to be undecided, her colleague from Klang Valley Teresa Kok looks set to not just retain her Seputeh parliamentary seat but also contest in the Kinrara state seat.

The two-term term MP for Seputeh announced in her blog that she would definitely be defending the seat. She added that the party assign her to contest a Selangor state seat, rumoured to be Kinrara.

According to party sources, Kok's celebrity in Selangor and KL gave ground for the party to assign her a heavier task to challenge the incumbent Kinrara state assembly person Kow Cheong Wei.

Kok first contested in Seputeh in 1999, winning by a majority of 5,200 votes.

Like Fong, she also gained more votes in 2004 by beating MCA's Seputeh public service director Chin Yen Foo with a majority of 12,895.