GEORGE TOWN – DAP does not expect any backlash from its decision to omit five Penang executive councillors who include party veterans from its list of state election candidates.
Party secretary-general Anthony Loke said that he has spoken to those who were not renominated and clarified matters with them.
“It is difficult for a political party like us. We only have 19 seats (in Penang) for DAP and 100 deserving candidates out there. We need to put the party first,” Loke said today after unveiling the party’s candidates for the Penang and Kedah elections on August 12.
Notable stalwarts dropped from the line up are former deputy chief minister P. Ramasamy and executive councillors Phee Boon Poh and Chong Eng.
Loke said that it is difficult to appease all leaders in the party, but urged all to close ranks to preserve DAP’s standing as the leading party in Penang.
Loke said he had spoken to Ramasamy, the three-term Perai assemblyman who was excluded from renomination. Ramasamy had made it known openly that he hoped for a fourth term.
Ramasamy, when contacted, said that he accepted the party’s decision, but also felt disappointed that the decision-making process to drop him and other incumbents was not done with clarity.
“All I got was platitudes. It was not clear why I was dropped.”
Ramasamy’s replacement in Perai, Sundarajoo Somu, said he still hoped for Ramasamy’s assistance in defending the seat. – The Vibes, July 25, 2023
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