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Malaysiakini:

Padungan rep quits DAP, criticises party's confrontational methods

DAP's Padungan assemblyperson Wong King Wei announced that he has declined the party's renomination for him to defend his state seat and is relinquishing his position as the Sarawak DAP vice chief and leaving the party.

"First of all, I'd like to thank the DAP for renominating me in defending the Padungan state constituency in the coming Sarawak election, which may be called any time soon.

"The Padungan seat has been widely regarded by the leadership and grassroots members of DAP as one of the best winning chance seats held by the party.

"Despite having said that, I regret to inform that I will have to respectfully decline this offer - to continue defending the Padungan seat," he said in a statement.

Wong (above) said as he was elected a DAP assemblyperson, he has chosen to remain loyal to his voters but said he is making the announcement now so that the DAP can make preparations for his replacement in the Sarawak election which is due next year.

He said he was disillusioned with the DAP's confrontational method, stating that politics is not just about launching attacks.

"When the DAP was in the opposition, we did that a lot. When the DAP became part of the ruling coalition, we still did what we used to do. The politics of Sarawak is in need of some positivity in order to see the state of Sarawak moving forward," Wong added.

He pointed out that earlier this month, the party had again set itself on a collision course with PKR when its Kuching youth wing demanded to contest the Batu Lintang seat in the next Sarawak election.

The seat was won by PKR's See Chee How who had since defected to Parti Sarawak Bersatu (PSB).

"Why are you doing this to any ally of yours? Why can't you just sit down with your ally and sort it out among yourselves?" he said.

Wong also expressed disapproval at Sarawak DAP chief Chong Chieng Jen's special assistant Michael Kong's (photo) attack against Sarawak Federation of Chinese Association president Richard Wee for stating that urban Chinese was more likely to back GPS in the upcoming state polls.

"It is unbelievable that party leaders could not take such comments and Kong has to resort to launching personal attacks against Wee.

"In my opinion, Wee was only giving his comment about the political scenario, he did not appeal to voters to vote for GPS.

"If DAP cannot even take comments that are not in favour of them and has to resort to personal attacks, the party should be worried about where it is heading," he added.

Wong said he is growing sick at such politics and disillusioned at the party's direction.

"Party leaders should adopt an inclusive approach within the party, embrace every member and take in every opinion.

"Not all dissenting voices are meant to bring you down. At times, it can serve as an avenue to seek improvement and not all pleasing statements mean well because they can blind you," he said.

Wong added that it was a "wrenching pain" that Harapan, while in power for 22 months, could not deliver on its promises.

"If we were to get back to where we started, with integrity and sincerity, it seems to me that the DAP has a lot to explain to our voters," he said.

Wong said he joined the DAP in 2006 after graduating in law and had then turned down offers to stand for the party in the election.

He later contested in the 2011 state election and won the Padungan seat. He retained the seat in the 2016 state election.

Wong said he is grateful for the platform and opportunity the DAP had given him.

"I will remember this kindness for as long as I can. It is just that I no longer think that I belong to DAP. I regret that I have to leave the Rocket, a home that I was part of for 16 good years."

He also thanked voters for supporting him for 10 years.

"At the moment, I have no plan to join any other political party and I will not stand in any election in the near future. I want to focus on my legal practice and give more time to my family.

"I just want to say that this is not an easy decision and I hope everyone will respect the decision that I have made," he said.