KUALA LUMPUR: Some had voted for those who had quit the party, while a number voted for the dead.
This was among the results of DAP’s recently concluded re-election for its top decision-making body, the central executive committee (CEC), which took place during a special congress on Sunday.
One of DAP’s prominent leaders, Kepong MP Dr Tan Seng Giaw in commenting over the matter, pointed out that the late party chairman Karpal Singh had “received” 43 votes.
“Yes, some had ‘voted’ for Karpal and those who had left the party. I guess the choice was limited,” Dr Tan said when contacted on Monday.
Although he did not elaborate on his apparent gibe, Dr Tan said some of the delegates might not have been updated on the status of the candidates listed.
Dr Tan who only managed to secure 34th place in the race, said initially he himself was caught unaware of his sudden candidacy for a seat in the CEC.
“But (the outcome) does not matter. (My defeat was) because I did not do any campaigns (for the re-election). Perhaps, I made it (to the candidates’ list) to make up for the shortage of contestants due to resignations of a few, among others.”
Those who had left the party but received votes were Zulkifli Mohd Noor (11 votes), Jaya Balan Valliapan (9), John Fernandez (8), Roseli Abdul Gani (8), and Hiew King Cheu (2). All were in the bottom five.
The CEC re-election, which was the second held following instructions from the Registrar of Societies, saw party adviser Lim Kit Siang and son, party secretary-general Lim Guan Eng emerged at the top three.
Only 53.94 per cent of the delegates turned up to cast their votes.
Nevertheless, former party vice-chairman Tunku Abdul Aziz Tunku Ibrahim said the poll’s objective to pick 20 candidates with the most votes as committee members had been turned into a platform to “purge” dissenters from the line-up.
He said other than Dr Tan, the polls also saw the ousting of Skudai state assemblyman Dr Boo Cheng Hau, who had previously made headlines over his brushes with Guan Eng.
In the first re-election in 2013, Dr Boo scored made it into the 18th spot, while Dr Tan was appointed to the committee. However, on Sunday, Dr Boo fell to the 26th spot and Dr Tan was not reappointed to the line-up. They received 174 and 384, respectively.
Tunku Abdul Aziz said the “fair-minded ones” were no longer allowed to be on the team.
“The winners are those who belonged to an inner circle. They represent the extreme wing of the party or hardliners. Reasonable, fair-minded members like Dr Tan and Dr Boo are no longer there. These are the people whose aspirations are for the betterment of all Malaysians.
“Of course, the purge is done to take out those who are not in line with Kit Siang,” said Tunku Abdul Aziz when contacted.
Tunku Abdul Aziz said based on the delegates’ turnout, it could be observed that most of them were supporters of Kit Siang and Guan Eng.
“The outcome is not much different from the previous election and re-election. It is expected. Almost 50 per cent of the delegates were absent. It appears that they have lost faith in the Lim dynasty.”