JOHOR BARU, Feb 18 — Johor DAP will retain Andrew Chen Kah Eng and Liow Cai Tung to defend their respective state assembly seats in Stulang and Johor Jaya for the upcoming state election.

Chen, who is also Johor DAP secretary and Liow, a former state executive councilor, will defend their Stulang and Johor Jaya state seats for the third term after winning it in the 13th and 14th general election (GE13 and GE14).

The announcement of the two candidates was made by DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng in two separate events at Cathay Restaurant in Vantage Bay, Stulang Laut and also Restoran Pekin in Johor Jaya tonight.

Present at both events were veteran DAP leader Lim Kit Siang and the party’s Johor chief Liew Chin Tong.

In his speech, Guang Eng hopes that the public can return both Chen and Liow as state assemblyman for a third term for the upcoming polls.

He urged all registered voters, not only in Stulang and Johor Jaya, but the entire Johor to cast their ballots for the state election.

"The Johor state elections will be just as important as to give the coming general election an impact,” said Guan Eng.

Later at Restoran Pekin in Johor Jaya, several DAP leaders celebrated Kit Siang’s upcoming 81st birthday that will fall on February 20, before announcing Liow as the party’s candidate.

This is the third time that the two DAP incumbents will be contesting in the same seats after making their electoral debut in 2013.

Back in the 2013 elections, Chen obtained 19,799 votes, defeating Chong Chee Siong from Barisan Nasional (BN) who returned 16,503 votes with a majority of 3,296.

At the same time, Liow polled 22,879 votes closely defeating BN’s favourite Tan Cher Puk who received 21,419 votes, with a majority of 1,460.

For the recent 2018 elections, Chen representing Pakatan Harapan (PH), won Stulang by polling 24,002 votes against BN’s Ang Boon Heng who received only 11,532 votes, with a majority of 12,470 votes.

In Johor Jaya, Liow once again won by polling 32,342 votes against Tan who returned 16,777 votes, with a majority of 15,565 votes.

Both Chen and Liow are the fifth and sixth DAP candidates who have been officially named to defend their seats by the party.

About two weeks ago, the DAP state leadership revealed that the party’s incumbent Tangkak assemblyman Ee Chin Li together with Sheikh Umar Bagharib Ali (Paloh), Chew Chong Sin (Mengkibol) and Gan Peck Cheng (Penggaram) would be defending their respective seats next month.

The Election Commission (EC) has set March 12 as polling day, with nomination day on February 26, while early voting is on March 8.