IT IS likely to be a fight between two newcomers from MCA and DAP for the Damansara Utama (DU) state seat in Selangor for the general election (GE14).

Incumbent assemblyman Yeo Bee Yin from DAP announced last week that her party had informed her that she would be contesting a parliamentary seat in Johor for GE14.

Two names are being mooted to defend the Damansara Utama seat for DAP. They are Jamaliah Jamalludin and Lim Yi Wei, both currently serving as Petaling Jaya City Council (MBPJ) councillors.

Jamaliah oversees Section 17A, Section 19 and SS20 while Lim takes care of Section 11, 12 and 13.

Jamaliah is the other name proposed by DAP to defend the DU seat.

Another newcomer, Chan Kee Oi, who is Damansara Utama MCA coordinator, will most likely be fielded by MCA to contest the seat.

All three are not new faces in the constituency as they have been meeting residents and attending to their problems over the past year.

Asked if the party was confident of winning the seat, which was previously held by Datuk Lim Choon Kin from 1999 to 2008, Petaling Jaya Utara MCA division deputy chairman Ch’ng Soo Chau said it would not be an easy task.

“We have to work very hard to win it back. We need a winning strategy and the right approach to win over the voters,” said Ch’ng.

Ch'ng will likely be fielded for the Kampung Tunku state seat.

Ch’ng will most likely be fielded for the Kampung Tungku state seat while Petaling Jaya Utara (PJU) MCA chief Tan Gim Tuan will likely run for the PJU parliamentary seat against incumbent Tony Pua from DAP.

Pua won the seat in 2008, defeating two-term incumbent Datin Paduka Chew Mei Fun, and went on to defend the seat in 2013, beating Barisan candidate Chew Hoong Ling from MCA.

The battle this time will be closely watched, especially since the motion for the electoral redelineation is expected to be tabled and passed in the Dewan Rakyat this month.

The DU seat will not only see a major change in voting areas but the name of the seat will also be changed to Bandar Utama.

Chan is tipped to contest the DU seat for MCA.

At the moment, the PJU parliamentary constituency has two state seats under its jurisdic-tion – Kampung Tunku and DU.

Bukit Lanjan will come under PJU in the redelineation exercise.

“From the proposal, six voting areas will be moved out from the DU seat to make way for seven new voting areas from the Bukit Lanjan seat.

“These six DU voting areas include areas such as SS2, Section 19, Section 17A and Seapark West,” said Ch’ng, who added that the PJU seat would be renamed as Damansara while the Petaling Jaya Selatan (PJS) seat would be renamed Petaling Jaya.

Lim is a newcomer being mooted to defend Damansara Utama for DAP.

These changes may likely see a shift in voting patterns, making it harder to predict who are the favourites this time round.

Meanwhile, former MBPJ councillor Mak Khuin Weng is confident that although the redelineation exercise will be passed by the Dewan Rakyat, it should not affect DAP’s chances of retaining the DU state seat.

“This area has seen little development and there is a general lack of controversial issues, DAP should win this seat,” he said.

Pua is likely to defend the PJ Utara parliamentary seat.

When contacted, Yeo said she was not overly concerned about the party’s chances once the redelineation exercise is implemented as there is good relations among the parties in the Pakatan Harapan coalition.

“I want to assure residents that no matter who stands, the candidate will only build on what I have been doing and make it better,” she said.

-The Star-