JOHOR BAHRU (April 29): Pakatan Harapan will have to treble its efforts to win the 14th General Election after the Opposition coalition lost six seats on nomination day yesterday.

Malaysiakini reported that during a walkabout in the state seat of Johor Jaya today, DAP Parliamentary leader Lim Kit Siang said: "We should not be disheartened but must treble our efforts to bring about political change in Malaysia and demonstrate that people’s power can triumph over the chicaneries and trickeries of Najib Abdul Razak and Umno/BN.

"This is why we must change the rules of the game so that these calculations of Umno/BN strategists can be proven wrong," he said.

Among the "game-changing" moves Harapan had taken, Lim added, was having former Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad on its side, using PKR's logo as the coalition's common logo and DAP contesting in  riskier constituencies, Malaysiakini reported.

During yesterday's nomination, Harapan's candidates in several Parliamentary and State seats were disqualified or could not file their nomination forms due to technicalities.

The highest profile candidate who was disqualified was Tian Chua in the Parliamentary seat of Batu over a fine of RM2,000 imposed on him by the Kuala Lumpur High Court last month.

Another controversy took place in the state seat of Rantau in Negri Sembilan where PKR's candidate Dr S Streram was not allowed to enter the nomination centre for not having an Election Commission pass. By the time he was allowed in, the deadline had lapsed.

In the other seats, the candidates were disqualified for allegedly being bankrupt.