Gerakan Confident Of Wresting Sidam, Derga Seats In GE14
ALOR SETAR, July 7 (Bernama) -- Gerakan is confident it can regain the Sidam and Derga State Assembly seats which it lost in the 13th general election (GE13), said its president Datuk Seri Mah Siew Kong.
He said the party had already drawn up a new strategy to face GE14 instead of the one used in the last general election to ensure victory in the coming election.
"Even though we (Gerakan) lost both seats in the GE13, our candidates continued to serve the people of Kedah. We lost by a small margin in Derga, so I am confident we can win back the seats.
"I am confident because we had helped the people and what is important is that Gerakan and the other component parties continue to work together to create opportunities which will enable us to regain the seats in Kedah," he told reporters after the launching ceremony of the party's state delegates conference 2017, here today.
Kedah Menteri Besar, who is also Chairman of Kedah UMNO Liaison committee, Datuk Seri Ahmad Bashah Md Hanipah launched the conference.
During GE13, the Barisan Nasional (BN) candidate from Gerakan, Bee Sieong Heng lost to Robert Ling Kui Ee from PKR with a majority of 5,964 votes for the Sidam state assembly seat under the Sungai Petani Parliamentary Constituency.
The Derga state assembly seat was won by Tan Kok Yew (DAP) who beat Dr Cheah Soon Hai of BN (Gerakan) with a majority of 1,156 votes.
Mah said Gerakan had listed two names for both the state assembly seats with Cheah contesting again for Derga while a new candidate, Tan Kok Seong, the treasurer for Kedah Gerakan, would contest for the Sidam seat.
"The early selection of the candidates will enable them to work early to settle whatever problems that arise and not wait until the last minute before the general election," he said.
-- BERNAMA
