DAP national publicity secretary Tony Pua revealed that the party held an election committee meeting yesterday afternoon to discuss preparations for the next general election, widely speculated to be called as early as next March.
“We have to ramp up, there’s no question about it,” the Petaling Jaya MP said last night.
During the meeting, party leaders discussed “reviews, steps, setting up the sub-committees, leaflets” and other election machinery-related issues to prepare for the 13th general election, Pua said.
He stressed that DAP could go to polls tomorrow if needed, and that these preparations were to merely ensure “near-peak condition” for the party.
“We hope to be not so much ready — I mean, you can call elections now and we can still do elections — but we hope to achieve near-peak condition in two months,” Pua said.
He said in the months following that DAP will “maintain and sustain” the momentum by focusing on leaflet designs, campaign teams and manifesto production.
The first-term lawmaker also revealed that committee members had disagreed on when elections will be held, with some settling on March or April while others thought June or September more likely.
“But, to us, we have to prepare for the worst case, which is when it’s early — March, April — so we have to get ready by then,” he said.
He explained that he was “ambivalent” about whether Selangor should dissolve its state assembly to coincide with the general election as there were “pros and cons” to both, but declined to comment further as the decision was not his to make.
On the election outcome in Selangor, Pua said Pakatan Rakyat (PR) “had the edge” for the moment but cautioned that the coalition cannot rest easy and must continue to send a message that it was better at governing than BN.
“We are in continuous improvement mode. We want to make better policies, and the key difference between our government and the Barisan government is you don’t find our mentri besar enriching himself by improper means,” he said, in a thinly-veiled reference to former Selangor Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Dr Mohd Khir Toyo.
Khir was charged on Monday in the Shah Alam Sessions Court with land fraud under section 165 of the Criminal Procedure Code in connection with the purchase of two plots of land and a bungalow in Section 7, Shah Alam.
If found guilty, the 45-year-old Khir faces up to two years’ imprisonment, a fine, or both.
Pua said all three PR component parties would meet up some time soon to discuss election preparations but did not furnish a date.
In Election 2008, PR won 17 out of 22 parliamentary seats in Selangor and 36 of the 56 state assembly seats, losing one as a result of defection.
DAP adviser Lim Kit Siang noted last month that eight PR parliamentary seats in Selangor were won with less than 10 per cent majority, namely Hulu Selangor, Kuala Selangor, Hulu Langat, Kuala Langat (these were won with less than five per cent majorities) and Selayang, Gombak, Ampang and Kelana Jaya.
In a recent by-election, PR lost Hulu Selangor, which was won with the slimmest majority of 0.4 per cent in 2008, he added.
For the state assembly seats, PR won 10 seats with less than 10 per cent majority, namely Sekinchan, Bukit Melawati, Cempaka, Damansara and Teluk Datuk (these five were won with less than five per cent majorities) and Ulu Kelang, Bukit Antarabangsa, Lebah Jaya, Kota Anggerik and Selat Kelang.
BN won only three parliamentary seats and 12 state assembly seats in Selangor in 2008 with less than 10 per cent majorities, Election Commission records show.
