Liew promised ministerial post

KUALA LUMPUR: Pakatan Harapan (PH) deputy president Lim Guan Eng has promised DAP Johor chief Liew Chin Tong ( pix) a ministerial position should he win in Ayer Hitam and the Opposition secures a victory in the election.

The Penang chief minister said the party would propose Liew’s name to the coalition’s top leadership in the event the latter pulls off an unlikely victory against MCA’s Datuk Seri Wee Ka Siong in the constituency that he has held for three terms.

“Liew has been talking a lot about the Malay tsunami happening, and he is prepared to prove this by contesting in a risky constituency.

“If Liew wins, surely he will be among the top leaders (in DAP), and will be one of the names that we will put forward for a ministerial position,” he told a press conference after announcing DAP’s newest member, Bersih activist Johnson Chew Chong Sin yesterday.

Liew, who is Kluang MP, was named as DAP’s candidate for the Ayer Hitam seat on Sunday, setting the stage for a showdown with Wee in GE14.

Wee’s majority in the seat – which comprises 57.57% Malay voters, 38.43% Chinese, and 4% Indians – has dwindled from 15,763 in the 2004 elections to 13,909 in 2008, and just 7,310 in 2013.

Lim said PH could forget about forming the federal government if it could not secure victory in a BN stronghold seat like Ayer Hitam.

“If Liew can win the Ayer Hitam seat, then I would say PH could win Putrajaya as well. We can’t be the federal government without winning seats like Ayer Hitam,” he said.

Lim, who has been embroiled in a war of words with Wee over the past month over the Penang undersea tunnel project, also dismissed the decision to field Liew as a personal one. – By Amar Shah Mohsen