IPOH, Mar 14 — Perak DAP chairman Nga Kor Ming today urged the Pakatan Harapan (PH) presidential council to allow the party to contest eight parliamentary seats and 20 state seats in the 15th general election. 

Nga said this was to win back the state government which he claimed was stolen from the Perak PH coalition. 

"We hope and request Perak Amanah chairman Datuk Asmuni Awi and Perak PKR chairman Farhash Wafa Salvador Rizal Mubarak will give away the requested seats to allow us to contest in the next general election and win back the government. 

"And we hope this will be blessed by the PH presidential council,” he said in his speech during the Perak DAP party convention at Ipoh Convention Centre.  

In the last 14th general election, DAP won all the seven parliamentary seats and 18 state seats which they contested. 

However, DAP has lost three of the 18 seats in the state under Nga’s leadership after Tronoh assemblyman Paul Yong Choo Kiong and Buntong assemblyman A. Sivasubramaniam quit the party last year to go independent. They have since joined Bersatu. 

Malim Nawar’s Leong Cheok Keng was sacked by the DAP in January following his public criticism of the party leadership. 

DAP still holds the majority in the Pakatan Harapan (PH) coalition of 23 seats, with Amanah five and PKR’s three.  

The Perak state assembly has a total of 59 seats.  

Nga also said that the party will continue to defend democracy in the country and stressed that the party is for all Malaysians.  

"Malaysia is for the citizens of Malaysia,” he said.  

He also said the DAP is united and the leadership has the trust and confidence of all the delegates. 

"A few years back, we held our convention in a small hall which only accommodated 500 people, but today we managed to rent a hall worth RM80,000 per day which accommodates 5,000 people. 

"We proudly say that we didn’t use the party money for this. The money was donated by all the members. This is the strength of the party,” he said.  

A total of 2,135 delegates from 309 party branches throughout the state is expected to cast their vote to choose a new leadership in the party’s triennial polls today, which coincides with the state party convention.