WITH a lot at stake in the coming 15th General Election, Penang Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow said election campaigning would still continue even if floods occur in the state.
He told reporters that Penang Pakatan Harapan would respond to the situation and do its best during the campaign period to win as many as possible the 13 parliamentary seats up for grabs.
“Penang usually has flash floods. They come very fast and also recede within a few hours before things are restored.
“So, it is up to the candidates and campaign teams to be innovative while helping affected residents. Helping affected residents is also a form of campaigning, to be seen together with the community in facing the flood situation.
“We hope things will be under control when flash floods occur,” Chow said in response to a reporter’s question on the state’s contingency plans after flagging off the 16th Le Tour de Langkawi at the Esplanade this morning.
Asked whether the state legislative assembly set for early next month would be held, Chow said he would like the sitting to start on Nov 4 as scheduled before postponing it until the election is over.
Chow, who is also the Penang DAP chairman, added that they would now focus on the parliamentary election as they still had several more months before calling for the dissolution of the state legislative assembly.
He said he had told Speaker Datuk Law Choo Kiang of his intention for the assembly to meet on the appointed day (which is Nov 4) to comply with the constitution’s requirement before proposing for it to be postponed.
“I will bring this up in the state exco meeting on Wednesday (Oct 19) so that we can make a formal decision.
“We don’t want to miss the opening day because that would disrupt the assembly’s calendar.
“We propose to table the budget after the adjournment. That means, we only deal with questions and answers on the first day.
“On top of that, many civil servants and government departments are also involved in the election on behalf of the SPR (Election Commission). We do not want to affect this election preparation work and the officers in charge of polling stations. We want them to continue with their work helping SPR in managing the election.”
The Election Commission is expected to announce the nomination and polling dates on Oct 20 following the dissolution of Parliament on Oct 10.
Chow had earlier asked voters not to be disappointed that the state election is not held simultaneously with the parliamentary election to abide by the Pakatan Harapan presidential council’s decision.
In the last general election, PH swept 11 of the 13 parliamentary seats in Penang while Umno won two.
But Umno was reduced to one seat after Tasek Gelugor Umno incumbent Shabudin Yahaya (Kepala Batas) crossed over to Bersatu.
PH also lost one seat in Nibong Tebal when former state PKR chief Mansor Othman hopped to Bersatu.
This means that before Parliament was dissolved recently, the Penang MPs consisted of seven from DAP, three from PKR, two from Bersatu and one from Umno.
Story by K.H. Ong
Pix by Siew Chia En
Video by Law Suun Ting