GEORGE TOWN, July 28 — Penang DAP chairman Chow Kon Yeow revealed today that some of the names in the state’s list of candidates that was announced were not in the original list submitted by the state committee.

He said the list submitted to the party’s national candidate selection committee also contained the names of candidates who were not selected.

"There were names who were not proposed but were selected, and thus, led to dissatisfaction,” he said during a press conference this morning when asked about rumoured "infighting” among party members.

He said the so-called infighting within the party was mostly related to the selection of candidates.

The Penang Pakatan Harapan chairman again explained the process of candidate selection in the party.

"The state committee has its own candidate selection committee where we conduct interviews of candidates proposed by the branches,” he said.

He said the state-level selection committee, a five-member committee, finalised the candidates’ list before submitting it to the national level selection committee for approval.

"After it was submitted, I was invited to table the list and give any clarification if needed,” he said.

He said the national selection committee considered the list and made the final decision on which candidates to be fielded, which was the list announced by the party secretary-general Anthony Loke on Tuesday.

When asked if the selection of candidates was by an "emperor” as claimed by former Bagan Dalam assemblyman M. Satees, Chow said the final decision was made by the national selection committee.

"I am not part of the committee,” he said.

"The five-member national selection committee consisted of the national chairman, deputy national chairman, vice-chairmen Nga Kor Ming and K. Kulasegaran and the secretary-general Anthony Loke,” he added.

When asked if he is still on good terms with former deputy chief minister II P. Ramasamy, who was also dropped, Chow said the latter does not have any issues with him.

"There are no issues with me. There are even those who are contesting as Independent candidates in support of me,” he added.

Chow acknowledged that due to five of his former state excos being dropped from contesting, it would mean he has to form a new state exco line-up.

"With so many not being fielded, there will not be any continuity,” he said.

He said his previous exco line-up had worked together to implement his Penang2030 vision according to their respective portfolio.

"There are still a lot of projects and programmes to be implemented and we will have to continue this with a new state exco line-up,” he said.

In the recent announcement of candidates by DAP, five former state excos were dropped from the list while seven new candidates were fielded.

Those dropped were Ramasamy, DAP Wanita chief Chong Eng, Phee Boon Poh, Yeoh Soon Hin and Soon Lip Chee.

Former Bagan Dalam assemblyman M. Satees and Pulau Tikus assemblyman Chris Lee Chun Kit were also dropped but Lee had cited health reasons for withdrawing from the candidacy.

Satees today announced his resignation from the party and his intention to contest as an Independent candidate to fight against a "tyrant” who wanted to take control of Penang.

Yesterday, former DAP councillor David Marshel also resigned from the party and announced his intention to contest as an Independent candidate.

Both voiced their full support of Chow as the chief minister and said they are contesting to stop the "tyrant” from taking over Penang and ousting Chow.