KUCHING: Pending assemblywoman Violet Yong said she does not intend to run as a candidate for a parliamentary seat in the upcoming 15th General Election (GE15).
She said she was happy to serve as a Democratic Action Party (DAP) assemblywoman for the past 15 years.
“For 15 years, I have never been nominated as a candidate for a parliamentary seat. In fact, the two incumbents, namely, Chong Chieng Jen for the Stampin parliamentary seat and Dr Kelvin Yii for the Bandar Kuching parliamentary seat have performed very well so far,” she said during a press conference at the DAP headquarters here today.
Yong also explained that the power to select the candidates for DAP Sarawak rested with the DAP Sarawak State Committee.
“However, the issue of candidate selection for GE-15 has not been raised in the committee so far,” she added.
On the anti-party hopping law which was passed by the Parliament today, Yong said she was happy that the bill was finally tabled at the parliamentary level.
“We have seen many ‘frogs’ or ‘katak’ in previous elections, even in Sarawak, and it is necessary for this act to be enforced so that there is no more party hopping in the future.
“It is a huge step towards the development of the country’s democracy and it will increase the voters’ confidence and encourage them to come out to vote.
“It is a confidence booster to the people so that they would not feel mistreated, disrespected and betrayed by the votes that they have cast.
“I fully support this bill and hope that the Sarawak government will also give its consent for this bill to be implemented in Sarawak when the time comes,” she said.
