KUALA LUMPUR: The Segambut parliamentary seat will see three candidates making their debuts in the Federal Territories urban seat for the 14th General Election.
It will be a maiden outing for Federal Territories Deputy Minister and MyPPP vice-president Datuk Loga Bala Mohan, 52, representing Barisan Nasional as it is for Pas candidate Mohd Solleh Ab Razak.
Hannah Yeoh, contesting under PKR, will also be making her debut run for a parliamentary seat in her bid to retain the seat for the opposition.
The seat was previously held by Lim Lip Eng, who is contesting the Kepong parliamentary seat for PKR in GE14.
Yeoh turned up at the nomination centre on Friday accompanied by proposed Datuk S. Ambiga and seconder Nurul Nuha Anwar.
During the nomination, Yeoh raised a query on Loga's status as a Dewan Negara senator. This, she said, was because Article 49 in the Federal Constitution stated that a person shall not at the same time be a member of Dewan Rakyat and Dewan Negara.
She said she hoped to see proof of Loga's resignation as a member of the Upper House of Parliament.
Segambut constituency Election Commission returning officer Datin Noor Akma Shabuddin said she had received clearance from the Election Commission (EC) to proceed with the naming of all three candidates for the constituency.
“There is an official resignation letter dated April 28, but I am not sure whether it is from the Dewan Negara or whether the candidate had submitted to us; we will check,’ she said.
Loga, who was re-appointed as a member of the Dewan Negara for a second three year term in 2016, said he resigned from his position as a senator on April 27 to qualify for GE14.
“I was requested by the party leadership to contest the parliamentary seat and had to ensure that all my commitments were completed,” he said.
His approach will involve making house-to-house calls, instead of relying on information gleaned from social media platforms.
Meanwhile, Mohd Solleh, who is a private college lecturer, said he was confident of putting up a solid fight to his opponents