Election 2008: Po Kuan makes about-turn - NST

IPOH: In what must be the most confusing political about-turn of the decade, DAP's Fong Po Kuan yesterday announced she would be defending the Batu Gajah parliamentary seat after all.

The volte-face came six days after declaring publicly that she would not be contesting in this general election, giving vague reasons about internal politicking before vanishing out of sight.

Yesterday, at a hastily called press conference chaired by DAP supremo Lim Kit Siang, Fong re-emerged by saying her Feb 17 decision about not contesting was "not a wise one".

Reading from a prepared statement, she said she felt remorseful when she discovered how much people cared for and supported her through blogs, calls, emails and messages.

"Indeed the reflection of their immense support touched me deeply. This brought about the thought that I must not fail them.

"It (the decision not to contest) was definitely a very painful decision then (but) it made me realise that it was not a wise decision," she said.

[More at http://www.nst.com.my/Current_News/NST/Saturday/National/2166372/Article/index_html]