The source from BN told FMT that following initial seat negotiations between PH and BN, the seat was intended to be contested by MCA.

PH component DAP, which has held the Seri Delima seat since 2008, was said to have even agreed to make way for MCA.

“However, with MCA having decided to skip the polls altogether, we feel the seat should be contested by Umno instead.

“If possible, we’d like to contest one more seat on Penang island. So far, we only have Teluk Bahang,” the source said.

The source added that previously, BN had requested to contest the Batu Maung seat which had been won by PKR’s Abdul Halim Hussain in the 14th general election (GE14) in May 2018.

However, according to the source, negotiations are still ongoing and the decision will be made by the BN-PH leadership soon.

DAP’s Syerleena Abdul Rashid, who won the Seri Delima seat in GE14 with a majority of 16,553 votes, had announced that she would not be defending the seat in the state polls.

Last Wednesday, Penang DAP chief Chow Kon Yeow said Seri Delima was one of the 19 seats that will be contested by his party in the Aug 12 polls.

Meanwhile, Penang Umno chief Musa Sheikh Fadzir said two seats are still under negotiation with PH. He added that BN had so far been given six seats to contest, namely Teluk Bahang, Sungai Dua, Bertam, Penaga, Permatang Berangan, and Sungai Acheh.