KULAI: DAP’s national publicity secretary Teo Nie Ching said the party has confidence winning four of the seven parliamentary seats it contests in Johor, namely Bakri, Kulai, Kluang and Iskandar Puteri.

Other than Bakri which DAP won since 2008, the other three seats were captured by the party in the 2013 elections.

Even though the party has good chances of winning these four seats, there are still factors of uncertainty, including the large number of first-time voters, Teo told Sin Chew Daily during her walkabout at the Kelapa Sawit morning market and a local coffee shop.

Take her Kulai seat for example, the number of eligible voters there has increased by almost 50% from nearly 100,000 to 150,000.

The other three parliamentary seats DAP contests in the state are Labis, Ayer Hitam and Mersing.

On whether the exclusion of Boo Cheng Hau — who has the support of seven party branches in Iskandar Puteri parliamentary seat — from the party’s list of candidates, Teo said candidate selection is decided by a five-member committee which takes into consideration all factors.

“Sure enough everyone has his or her favorite candidate, but we are in one big organization and must therefore abide by the collective decision of the leaders.

“Now that the leaders have made the decision, we must do our utmost to help the party and Pakatan retain these seats.”

Teo cited the example of Charles Santiago who is not fielded to defend his Klang parliamentary seat but still gets his supporters to rally behind the party’s choice of candidate there.

“I hope all party members nationwide will stand united. Election victory must not be seen as an individual candidate’s personal achievement, as we stand in the election under the banner of the party.”

She reiterated that DAP must win Iskandar Puteri if Pakatan Harapan were to recapture Putrajaya in the coming election.

3 of 7 candidates are females

Of the seven DAP candidates standing in the 15th general election in Johor, three are women.

Besides Teo Nie Ching, the other two are Wong Shu Qi (Kluang) and Fatin Zulaikha (Mersing).

Teo said this is the first time DAP has fielded a candidate in Mersing, a traditional Umno stronghold, and she was glad a new generation Malay woman was willing to join the party and contest under PH.

“We are a party for all Malaysians and we are unwavering in our Malaysian Malaysia advocacy.

“The fact that more and more Malays are now contesting under DAP banner proves that we have slowly gained the recognition and support of the Malays.”