GEORGE TOWN – It is unbecoming of the Perak DAP leadership to call for Pasir Bedamar rep Terence Naidu to furnish an immediate report after he was arrested on Thursday in Prai for alleged drug use.
A senior party member, who wants to remain anonymous, said they should be closing ranks and providing support for Naidu, as the state chapter does not know what actually transpired.
“We should be closing ranks and supporting one of our own. We also do not know what really transpired behind the incident. Let the due process take its course.
“It is not the job of the state DAP to call for disciplinary action. It is the prerogative of the party’s central executive committee, and discipline is meted out by the CEC, not the state.”
He added that the state can only recommend certain disciplinary actions.
Meanwhile, Perak DAP vice-chairman Abdul Aziz Bari said it is too early to predict what will happen to the party following Naidu’s arrest.
Earlier, Perak DAP chairman Nga Kor Ming said Naidu must clarify the circumstances behind his arrest.
Nga’s comments came on the heels of speculations that Naidu was entrapped and may quit DAP to join the Perikatan Nasional coalition.
Naidu has since denied the talks, saying that he believed his drink was spiked.
He was detained with 36 patrons at a karaoke centre in Prai, Penang, on Thursday after the patrons, which included two police officers, were allegedly tested positive for substance abuse.
Police had applied for a four-day remand but Naidu through his lawyer and Jelutong MP RSN Rayer managed to secure his release yesterday at 6pm.
The bespectacled Naidu has since returned to Perak where he has also lodged a police report to contest the circumstances behind his detention.
Nga’s reaction has fed speculations that the “civil war” within the Perak DAP has not waned even though his faction won handily in the party’s state polls last year.
The other faction that included party veterans M. KulaSegaran and Thomas Su lost, but not before a brief ruckus on the day when Su alleged the voting process was flawed.
Su was later suspended for three months last year and has since returned to the party fold.
The latest saga could magnify the “uneasiness” among Perak DAP leaders and may impact its performance in the next general election.
Perak has become a stronghold for DAP for the last four general elections after party veteran Lim Kit Siang decided to contest the Ipoh Timur parliamentary seat in 2004 to mark his comeback after losing in Penang.
Incidentally, it was Su who made way for Lim to contest. – The Vibes, January 15, 2022
