GEORGE TOWN, July 27 — Gerakan president Datuk Dominic Lau Hoe Chai has denied using "cables” to being fielded as Perikatan Nasional’s (PN) candidate for the Bayan Lepas state seat in Penang.

The Penang PN chairman said he does not have any cables.

This is amid protests by PAS Bayan Lepas grassroots over Lau’s candidacy in a seat that was traditionally contested by the Islamist party.

PAS members alleged that Lau had used his "cables” (contacts) to be fielded in the seat.

"The selection of candidates is a transparent process in which the state-level PN will submit their proposed candidates and the final decision was made by the presidential council,” he said in a press conference at the Penang Gerakan headquarters today.

He reiterated that Gerakan is a non-ethnic party that fielded multiracial candidates including a Malay candidate and ethnic Indian candidates other than ethnic Chinese candidates.

He said candidates were selected based on their "winnable” criteria and not based on their ethnicity.

Gerakan will be fielding 19 candidates under PN out of the 40 seats in Penang while Bersatu will field 11 and PAS 10.

When asked about the protests by the PAS Bayan Lepas and the possible boycott by them over his candidacy, he brushed it off as a mere miscommunication issue.

"This is due to miscommunications in Penang PN and we will resolve this internally instead of through the media,” he said.

Lau also said PN will do well in the upcoming six state elections.

"There are more people who openly voice their support for PN, this is a good sign,” he said.

The six simultaneous state elections will be held on August 12.

Lau will be going up incumbent Bayan Lepas assemblyman Azrul Mahathir Aziz from Amanah in the state polls.