“I have decided that I will not contest in the upcoming Selangor DAP election. This means I will not have any elected position in the party,” Ong said in the latest episode of the “Are We OK?” podcast, co-hosted by social media influencer Peter Yong.

The former Bangi MP said he initially thought of contesting as he felt there was value in having someone who was not an MP or assemblyman in the Selangor DAP leadership.

The former deputy minister also believed he had enough goodwill and support from leaders in Selangor that would see him make the top 15 in the state DAP polls.

However, he claimed that contesting would put some of his party colleagues in a tough position within DAP.

“There would be leaders from other states who would instigate leaders in Selangor not to vote for me.

“These leaders would say that, if (the Selangor DAP leaders) support Kian Ming, they would withdraw their support for (the Selangor leaders) in the central executive committee (CEC) elections which will take place next year.”

Ong said these were among the “push and pull factors” that drove him to make his final decision, adding that these aspects were also at play when he decided not to defend his former parliamentary seat in the 2022 general election (GE15).

“Pull factors … meaning I wanted some personal time and was feeling burned out,” he said, adding that other things considered included disagreements with certain party leaders.

The former two-term MP was among the high-profile figures who failed to defend their seats in DAP’s CEC elections in March 2022.

Ong had obtained just 535 votes in the DAP leadership polls, trailing behind Sabah assemblyman Jannie Lasimbang, who secured the 30th position, with 877 votes.

He later announced a break from politics and decided not to contest in GE15.

He later joined Taylor’s University as the director of a philosophy, politics and economics programme, though he said he was open to contesting again in the next general election.