Perak DAP reps who quit state committee say sticking by decision

IPOH, Sept 12 — Pokok Assam assemblyman Leow Thye Hin said he and his Malim Nawar counterpart, Leong Cheok Keng, will not backtrack on their decision to quit from DAP’s state committee.

Earlier, Perak DAP chairman Nga Kor Ming said the matter would be resolved internally but Leow said their decision was final and went on to demand that the latter resign from his own position.

“Everything has been taken into consideration and we would not retract our decision of quitting the party’s state committee,” he said in a statement.

Yesterday, Leong and Leow announced that their resignations as the Perak DAP deputy treasurer and assistant organising secretary, respectively.

They presented their decision as a show of solidarity with party colleague and state lawmaker Paul Yong, who is on trial for raping his former Indonesian maid.

Both stressed that they remain party lawmakers and loyal to the party’s central executive committee, in an apparent swipe at Nga.

They expressed disappointment with the Perak DAP chairman’s decision to raise Yong’s continued membership in the Perak executive committee with the party’s central leadership before discussing this at the state level, as reported in Chinese vernacular media.

Leong said Nga’s remarks were improper as Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Ahmad Faizal Azumu already said there was no need to reshuffle the exco pending Yong’s trial.

“Based on Nga’s statement, we only can interpret that Yong’s position is affected or taken away from him. And this is in contravention to the stand taken by the state committee in all the previous meeting to say Yong is innocent and the committee is behind him,” he said.

Leong also accused Nga of harbouring hidden motives regarding Yong’s position and acting inconsistently with his previous remarks asserting Yong’s innocence.

He then claimed Perak DAP has grown unhappy with Nga’s behaviour since the general election but most did not speak out for fear of repercussions.