‘Nothing new with celebrities standing as polls candidates’
KUALA LUMPUR: The move by DAP to nominate former Astro AEC journalist Tan Yunn Chzuan for the Balakong by-election is not new.
Political observers and academicians said nominating an outsider or from fields other than politics had been practised by political parties in general elections.
Universiti Sains Malaysia political analyst Professor Dr Sivamurugan Pandian said being an outsider and from a different field should not be an issue so long as the candidate won.
“I do not think it is an issue as it had been practised in the past by Pakatan Harapan members.
“An example is (Datuk Seri Dr) Wan Azizah ( Wan Ismail), who is in Kajang, but had won in Permatang Pauh, and is now the Pandan member of parliament.
“The same goes for Lim Guan Eng, who was born in Johor, but became a (former) Penang chief minister.”
Sivamurugan was commenting on the move by DAP to nominate the 33-year-old social media influencer with 83,000 Facebook followers for the Balakong byelection.
The move to nominate Tan had been criticised by Selangor DAP Youth chief Teh Hoong Keat, who, on Saturday, said Tan’s nomination had been opposed by party grassroots.
He said the move to nominate Tan showed that the party was expanding into the “Chinese entertainment industry”.
Tan hosted two programmess on Chinese affairs — Evening Edition and Prime Talk
AEC.
Sivamurugan said: “The trend of artistes becoming political candidates is not new. An example is Abu Bakar Ellah, who contested the Kuamut state seat in Sabah in the 11th General Election.
“In the 13th General Election, three artistes stood as candidates,” he said.
“The three were Herman Tino who stood as a candidate in the Tanjung Karang parliamentary constituency, Dayangku Intan (Penggerang) and Wan Aishah Wan Ariffin or Aishah (Jempol).”
Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia’s Institute of Ethnic Studies deputy director Associate Professor Dr Kartini Aboo Talib @ Khalid said the move to nominate Tan, who is well known and popular, as a candidate was part of DAP’s strategy.
“I think it is a winnable strategy as the Balakong state constituency has a solid Chinese population.”