IPOH, March 5 — After a 10-year hiatus, parliamentarians M. Kulasegaran and Thomas Su are back in the running for DAP’s triennual party election that will take place next week.

The duo announced their intention to run for the Perak DAP election on March 14, which also coincides with the state convention to be held at the Ipoh Convention Centre.

"We will put up a total of 15 candidates,” Su, who is Kampar MP, told reporters here today. 

He said he will be joined by Leow Thye Yih and Terence Naidu, who are Pokok Assam and Pasir Berdamar assemblymen respectively with Cheong Chee Khing and Keong Meng Sing, who are the former Bercham and Menglembu assemblymen.

He said he and Kulasegaran had visited DAP branches in the state and had been persuaded to run as office-bearers by their grassroots members after the last state party election in 2018. 

"The feedback we got was they want changes to the leadership to further strengthen the party,” he added.

Thomas Su (centre) and M. Kulasegaran (right) announced their intention to run for the Perak DAP election on March 14.

Kulasegaran, who is Ipoh Barat MP, said grassroots members wanted Perak DAP to run in more seats in the next general election.

"There is a need to increase the number of seats in the party contest rather than being confined to 18.

"If we increase it to 25 seats, we will be able to play a more pivotal role,” he said, adding that Perak DAP should start discussing with its allies in Pakatan Harapan on seat allocations.

The Perak state assembly has a total of 59 seats. The Opposition PH coalition currently controls 23, with the lion’s share held by the DAP while Amanah had five and PKR has three.

The former human resources minister also believes public confidence in DAP and Pakatan Harapan (PH) in general, remains strong, even after several assemblymen defected.

Tronoh assemblyman Paul Yong Choo Kiong and Buntong assemblyman A. Sivasubramaniam quit DAP last year to go independent but have since entered Bersatu, the main party in the ruling Perikatan Nasional coalition, joining Kuala Kurau assemblyman Datuk Abdul Yunus Jamahri who was previously with PKR. A fourth, Titi Serong assemblyman Hasnul Zulkarnain, left Amanah and remains an independent.

Pokok Assam assemblyman Leow Thye Yih speaks during a press conference in Ipoh March 5, 2021.

Malim Nawar Leong Cheok Keng was sacked by the DAP in January after his public criticism of the Perak party leadership.

Leow said he decided to join Su and Kulasegaran for this election as he had trouble working with the present DAP leadership under Nga Kor Ming who is the Teluk Intan MP.

"Su and Kulasegaran are open-minded and accept differences in opinion,” he said.

Leow resigned from the state committee in 2019 and had blamed Nga for not doing enough to prevent the fall of the Perak PH government.

Terence said Perak DAP desperately needs new blood.

"Only with new blood, more can be achieved,” he said.