JOHOR BARU, Dec 30 — Johor DAP deputy chief Teo Nie Ching slammed the party’s committee member Dr Boo Cheng Hau for not understanding the senator’s nomination process and making “baseless allegations” against party leaders.

She clarified that the party’s state chief Liew Chin Tong’s nomination for the senator’s post in Dewan Negara is decided by DAP’s national candidature committee, and not by the state committee as claimed by Dr Boo.

“In the process of exploration, DAP’s national candidature committee agreed that in the event of the vacancy being opened for nomination, the party would nominate Liew to the position, subject to the consent of our Pakatan Harapan (PH) allies.

“Nomination for candidates in DAP is decided by the national candidature committee, and not by the state committees.

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“Dr Boo who used to be the Johor DAP chief should know this process well,” said Teo in a statement issued in response to Dr Boo’s allegation here tonight.

The Kulai MP was responding to Dr Boo who had earlier accused Liew of misusing his power in an attempt to lobby the state Barisan Nasional (BN) and Perikatan Nasional (PN) government for a senator’s post.

On the proposed senatorship, Teo explained that one of the two senatorships elected by the Johor state assembly had been vacant since last year.

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“Johor PH is of the view that one of the two senators should be from among the coalition, given the composition of the state assembly, which was 29 from PN and 27 from PH at that point of time.

“Johor PH nominated a candidate in November last year and decided to explore again in August this year.

“On both occasions, the state government did not agree to open for nomination, hence the position remains vacant until this day,” she explained.

Teo also clarified Dr Boo’s claim that Liew sowed confusion among Johor DAP grassroots members by repeatedly going against the PH Presidential Council’s resolution that Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim is the coalition’s only candidate for prime minister.

She said Johor DAP leaders meet often with grassroots members to discuss the latest political situation, and a pre-arranged session was held on August 16 after Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin resigned as prime minister.

“When members asked if Anwar was going to have the numbers to be the next prime minister, the leaders shared their candid and frank views behind closed doors that the Port Dickson MP didn’t have the numbers.

“The Johor DAP leadership sees the need to be truthful and frank with members, especially in a closed-door setting,” she said, adding that the discussion had nothing to do with the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between PH and the Ismail Sabri Yaakob government.

Teo also reminded Dr Boo that the Johor DAP party election is over and all leaders as well as members must now unite to fight the upcoming state election and general election.

“The challenges ahead of us are daunting and we don’t need such distractions,” she said.