Perling: DAP to field an Indian candidate?

Johor Baru: The Perling state assembly seat in Johor, which is expected to be allocated to MIC, under the Barisan Nasional seat arrangement, is currently held by the Democratic Action Party (DAP) and falls under the Pulai parliamentary constituency.

Deputy Minister Liew Chin Tong won the seat in a three-cornered contest in the last election with a majority of 3,347 votes. As Liew is currently the Member of Parliament for Iskandar Puteri and a deputy minister, he is not expected to seek re-election in Perling.

Johor DAP sources revealed that the party is considering fielding an Indian candidate,  possibly a woman, to replace him.

DAP’s Indian candidates never won a state assembly seat in Johor until the 2018 general election. In that year, Ramakrishnan Suppiah was fielded in DAP in Bekok under the Labis Parliament seat, which he won. In the same 2018 general election, for the first time in history, Pakatan Harapan captured Johor, and Ramakrishnan became the EXCO member representing the Indian community.

However, in 2022, Ramakrishnan was replaced by Kanan Mariappan as the DAP candidate for Bekok but lost.

Since MIC is set to contest in Perling, DAP is expected to field an Indian candidate in that constituency, according to sources.