GEORGETOWN: At least 90 candidates will be vying for the 40 state seats in Penang in the state election.
Two of the 40 state seats -- Prai and Pantai Jerejak -- will see four-cornered fights.
Six state seats -- Bagan Dalam, Tanjung Bungah, Air Putih, Pulau Tikus, Sungai Pinang and Batu Uban -- will see three-cornered fights.
Thirty-two other state seats will see straight fights between the two big coalitions contesting, namely Pakatan Harapan-Barisan Nasional and Perikatan Nasional.
More than 50 per cent of candidates representing the two major coalitions, will comprise new faces.
Priyankaa Loh Xiang Pin, 26, from Malaysian United Democratic Alliance (Muda), is the youngest candidate while Ravinder Singh, 81, from Parti Rakyat Malaysia (PRM) is the oldest candidate.
Coincidentally, both Loh and Ravinder will be vying for the Pantai Jerejak seat, alongside PKR's Fahmi Zainol and Gerakan's Oh Tong Keong.
With hours to go before nomination day, DAP suffered a blow when its former Bagan Dalam assemblyman M. Satees, announced his decision to quit the party and stand as an independent candidate in the same seat.
His announcement came a day after a DAP Batu Kawan branch leader, David Marshel, announced his decision to quit the party to contest the Prai state seat as an independent candidate.
Pas and Gerakan, too, seem to be at loggerheads over the candidate for the Bayan Lepas state seat, where national Gerakan president Datuk Dominic Lau is being fielded.
Pas had accused Lau of "pulling strings" from the top PN leadership to secure the seat despite his promise not to ask for a Malay-majority seat.
While component parties from both major coalitions may have some issues, analyst Dr Oh Ei Sun, a senior fellow of the Singapore Institute of International Affairs, opined that PH would undoubtedly still have the upper hand in this state election.
"PKR and Umno, are likely to lose most, if not all of the Malay-majority seats, as the onslaught of the green wave is simply irresistible.
"DAP seems to have a mix of seasoned and fresh candidates, while PN, understandably focus on the Malay-majority seats," he told the New Straits Times.
Elaborating, Oh said the dissatisfaction of the dropped candidates and their potential running as independents would have some effects on DAP, but it will be insignificant.
"This is because the party's reputation is so formidable, and non-Malays' absolute fear of a theocratic state government runs so strong, that DAP is likely to win most, if not all, of its contested non-Malay majority seats.
"Yes, for Pas and Gerakan, Pas' potential non-support for Lau will prove fatal to his chances to win, as the green wave is largely driven by the Islamist party," he added.
Besides Penang, Selangor, Negri Sembilan, Kedah, Kelantan and Terengganu will go to the polls on Aug 12.
