Penang BN already submitted list of candidates to central leadership - Chairman

GEORGE TOWN: Penang Barisan Nasional (BN) has submitted its list of parliamentary candidates for the 15th General Election (GE15) to the central leadership, said Penang BN chairman Datuk Musa Sheikh Fadzir.

He said the state BN has also sent the list of State Legislative Assembly candidates to the central leadership following the Penang DAP's proposal that the Penang State Assembly be dissolved in line with the dissolution of Parliament, so as to have the election simulteneously during the GE15.

"We are also waiting for the Penang government's decision as to whether the state assembly is dissolved to pave the way for the general elections to be held simultaneously with Parliament, and if the state assembly is not dissolved, the machinery will focus on Parliamentary seats only," he said when contacted by Bernama yesterday.

On Tuesday, DAP secretary-general Anthony Loke Siew Fook said the Penang DAP had proposed that the Penang state assembly be dissolved and the matter will be discussed at the Pakatan Harapan (PH) presidential council meeting.

Musa who is also the Penang UMNO Liaison Board chairman, said 60 per cent of the UMNO candidates submitted to the leadership were new faces.

In the GE14, Penang BN contested in 40 state seats and 13 parliamentary seats with Gerakan contesting in 13 state seats and four parliamentary seats, UMNO (15 state seats, five parliamentary seats), MCA (10 state states, four parliamentary seats) while MIC contested in two state seats.

On June 23, 2018, Gerakan officially quit BN following the coalition's loss in the GE14 and joined Perikatan Nasional (PN) in February last year.

-- BERNAMA