PETALING JAYA: Tony Pua, the member of parliament for Damansara, is tipped to challenge MCA president Datuk Seri Dr Wee Ka Siong in Ayer Hitam parliamentary seat in the coming general election.

Sin Chew Daily learned that Pua, the former Selangor DAP chairman, is unlikely to defend his seat, while former energy, science, technology, environment and climate change minister Yeo Bee Yin, member of parliament for Bakri, will defend his Damansara seat.

Pua’s line-up for the last election caused unhappiness among DAP grassroots leading to his defeat in Selangor DAP election and DAP party election.

Sources said even if Pua lost in the party election, he was appointed policy advisor for DAP secretary-general Anthony Loke Siew Fook.

This proves that even if Pua intends to retire, the party leadership may not let the three-term MP go.

Pua made his election debut in 2008, defeating MCA’s Datin Paduka Chew Mei Fun in Petaling Jaya Utara.

He defeated another MCA candidate Chew Hoong Ling in 2013.

Pua won the seat, now renamed Damansara, for a third time in 2018.

He polled 121,283 votes, with the country’s highest majority votes of 106,903, defeating Ho Kwok Xheng of Barisan Nasional who only received 14,380 votes.

The source also said if Pua were to lose in Ayer Hitam, he may retire from politics.

Yeo, who is now pregnant, seems to be active in Selangor again to make a comeback.

She joined DAP together with Ong Kian Ming in 2012, and won the Damansara Utama state seat in 2013 for the first time.

She contested the Bakri parliamentary seat in 2018 election and was appointed as minister in the Pakatan Harapan government after winning the seat.

The Damansara Utama state seat, renamed Bandar Utama, was won by Yeo’s protege Jamaliah Jamaluddin in 2018.

Yeo is seen as the best candidate to defend Damansara parliamentary seat if Pua were to retire or contest a different seat as she won the state seat under the parliamentary constituency in 2013.

“Both Yeo and Pua are seen as elites in the party. Yeo is a former minister and does not have many issues to be attacked by the opponent. This will depend whether the incumbent is defending the seat,” said the source.

As of May 31, the Damansara parliamentary seat is a Chinese majority seat (68.84%) while Malay voters make up 22.61% and Indians 7.4%.