He said with PKR winning seven of the 13 seats it had contested in the Aug 12 polls, as opposed to Umno’s two out of six, the first deputy chief minister’s (DCM 1) post should go to PKR.
“This electoral outcome highlights a significant disparity between Umno’s representation and the scale of influence that comes with holding a position as vital as DCM 1,” the former two-term Penang assemblyman said in a statement.
“While political realignments may sometimes warrant reconsideration of traditional norms, it’s crucial to evaluate whether Umno’s limited electoral success makes it an appropriate choice for such a key position.
“PKR’s electoral dominance, combined with its success in ensuring Malay representation, positions its representative as a more suitable choice for the DCM 1 role.”
Recently, there has been speculation that Umno’s Reezal Merican Naina Merican, who won the Bertam state seat, would be given the DCM 1 post.
Since 2008, the Pakatan Harapan state government has given the post to a PKR assemblyman of Malay descent, with the DCM 2 post given to a DAP assemblyman of Indian descent.
Ong said PKR’s track record of uniting Malaysians underscored its ability to bridge cultural divides and uphold the principles of justice and equality for all.
Therefore, he said DAP should appoint a PKR representative rather than an Umno representative as DCM 1 “to maintain convention in view of our parties’ long-term relationship”.
The Penang state election on Saturday saw PH-BN win 29 seats in the 40-seat state assembly while Perikatan Nasional won the remaining 11 seats.
DAP won all 19 seats it contested, PKR was victorious in seven of the 13 seats contested, while Amanah secured one of two seats it contested.
Apart from Bertam, BN (through Rashidi Zinol) also won the Sungai Acheh seat with a razor-thin 124-vote majority over PN’s Zulkifli Ibrahim, who had won the seat on a PH ticket in the 14th general election (GE14) in 2018 before leaving PKR for Bersatu.
PN’s 11 seats came from PAS and Bersatu. PAS won seven of the 10 seats it contested while Bersatu won four of the 11 seats it contested.