[UPDATED] Ramasamy bids farewell to DAP

SEBERANG PRAI – Former Penang deputy chief minister II P. Ramasamy announced that he is giving up all positions in DAP in tandem with his exit from the party.

The Perai state seat incumbent said he had already sent a letter to DAP secretary-general Anthony Loke and state party chairman Chow Kon Yeow at 8.24am and 8.25am today.

His announcement comes weeks after he was dropped from the party’s candidates list for the Penang state election.

“I came to this decision after a lot of thought. I also spoke to my family and friends about it,” he said.

Despite quitting DAP on accounts of alleged dictatorial rule, Ramasamy assured that he would continue to support the ruling Pakatan Harapan (PH) coalition in Penang.

Ramasamy, who is the highest-ranking DAP official to quit the party since it rose to power in 2008, claimed there was “no transparency” in the candidate selection process.

“What is the point of having branches and leaders when only one person decides everything? This is not the DAP I had joined much earlier.”

He told a packed press conference at his former service centre in Chai Leng Park that he will now throw his support behind two former aides: M. Satees and David Marshall.

Both are contesting as independents in the Bagan Dalam and Prai state seats respectively.

Penang will go to polls on Saturday with 40 state seats up for grabs in the 15th state election.

Ramasamy said that he does not harbour any ill will towards DAP for dropping him as a candidate, although he has made it known that he wanted a fourth term as deputy chief minister II.

Above all, he said he wants transparency and fairness in the selection of his successors.

PH comprises PKR, DAP and Amanah; the coalition has governed Penang since 2008.

Ramasamy said that the candidates who were selected to replace him and Satees are seen as outsiders.

While he has nothing personal against them, DAP could have done better in their candidate selection, he added.

The former academician was a “giant killer” when he decided to join politics full-time in 2008.

He defeated then Penang Chief Minister Tan Sri Koh Tsu Koon in the Batu Kawan parliamentary seat while also capturing the Prai state seat, which he held for three terms before he was not renominated to defend the seat.

Ramasamy said that he thought long and hard about his decision after spending over two decades in DAP, but in the end, quitting was the best option available to him.

“I was asked to stay and to continue my struggle in DAP, but this is a top-bottom party, so the voices of those with the best intentions are often drowned.” – The Vibes, August 10, 2023