SEREMBAN, July 24 — DAP tonight announced the names of 11 candidates, including a new face, that the party will be fielding in the Negeri Sembilan elections next month.

Its secretary-general Anthony Loke, when announcing the candidates here last night, also confirmed that he will be defending the Chennah seat in the polls, while first-time candidate Desmond Sian Meow Kong will be contesting the Rahang seat.

Also contesting are Teo Kok Seong (Bahau), J. Arul Kumar (Nilai), Chew Seh Yong (Lobak), Ng Chin Tsai (Temiang), Nicole Tan ( Bukit Kepayang), Yap Yew Weng (Mambau), P. Gunasegaran (Seremban Jaya ), Choo Ken Hwa (Lukut) and S. Veerapan (Repah).

"Negeri Sembilan was won on the spirit of Pakatan Harapan (PH) in 2018. I am a Negeri Sembilan native, raised here, started my political career here, so of course, Negeri Sembilan is close to my heart.

"Ten of the seats we kept as status quo, and only seat, in Rahang, we are featuring a new face. Many of DAP’s candidates in Negeri Sembilan are still young, in their 30s to 60s,” he told reporters after the Pakatan Harapan (PH) candidate announcement ceremony here.

He said DAP will be contesting in only four states, and will be announcing its candidates for Selangor today, followed by Penang and Kedah respectively tomorrow.

"Tonight is not about DAP candidates, or Amanah, or Keadilan, but only PH because we represent the PH symbol, we enter the ring with the PH symbol,” he said.

Barisan Nasional (BN) last Friday announced 17 candidates running in the state followed by the announcement of six PKR candidates by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, who is also PKR president, and two Amanah candidates announced by its president Datuk Seri Mohamad Sabu last night.

Loke said all the candidates need to defend the Negeri Sembilan government and retain State PH Chairman Aminuddin Harun as the Menteri Besar candidate.

Meanwhile, Loke also thanked Amanah for handing over its incumbent seat, Lenggeng, which it won in the 14th general election to BN this time around.

Following are the DAP candidates contesting in Negeri Sembilan:

N01 Chennah — Anthony Loke (DAP)

N08 Bahau — Teo Kok Seong (DAP)

N10 Nilai J. Arul Kumar (DAP)

N11 Lobak — Chew Seh Yong (DAP)

N12 Temiang — Ng Chin Tsai (DAP)

N21 Bukit Kepayang — Nicole Tan (DAP)

N22 Rahang — Desmond Sian Meow Kong (DAP)

N23 Mambau — Yap Yew Weng (DAP)

N24 Seremban Jaya — P. Gunasegaran (DAP)

N30 Lukut — Choo Ken Hwa (DAP)

N36 Repah — S. Veerapan (DAP) — Bernama