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Friday, October 28, 2022

Peoples favourite Santiago dropped as Klang MP, Internal politics at its worse




Peoples favourite Santiago dropped as Klang MP, Internal politics at its worse





INTERNAL politics in any political party or coalition is not a sight most of us welcome and to make matters worse, DAP’s decision to drop people favourite and three time Klang MP Charles Santiago has been a great disappointment to the Klang people and to make matters worse the manner in which he was dropped is now a heated topic of debate amongst the party leadership and Santiago.

Today, Santiago has made it clear by denying he was told that the 14th general election would be his last in a fiery message to the leadership stating, “Please don’t tarnish my image to manage backlash as I was never informed that 2018 would be my last term,” said Santiago on his Facebook page on Friday (Oct 28).

“There were no such arrangements and no indication about calls to replace me in 2013 or 2018 as suggested by DAP chairman Gobind Singh Deo.

“These narratives are an afterthought to mitigate the huge backlash that we are seeing, even before the official candidate list was announced,” he said.

In defense, Selangor DAP chief Gobind Singh Deo said Santiago had met him in 2013 and 2018 to seek support for him to defend the Klang parliamentary seat.

“I supported him nevertheless and he was given the opportunity to carry on.

“I did say to him that it would be difficult for him to carry on after that, and that 2018 would be the last.” he added.

Gobind also said there have been calls for him to be replaced and that Santiago was well aware about it, explaining further that it was also made known to Santiago and discussed between the two leaders stating that it was not an easy decision to make but after considering the position, all parties had come to a decision.

This has resulted in a huge favour for Santiago who has won the hearts of his Klang constituents by being not just an MP but a grassroots who had done so much for the average Klang folk and the communities that he has been serving.

Santiago who has always been seen on grounds has never allowed his position as an MP to hold him high up, he has been one that is approachable, truly living up to the term as a people’s MP.


People’s MP Charles Santiago on the grounds during last year’s flood. (Photo credit: FMT)


With Santiago’s good reputation and impressive track record as Klang MP who has brought not one but many changes in his constituency, not forgetting how he went down to the grounds selflessly to help the Klang residents during the massive floods last year are all just testaments of humility, compassion and sincerity in helping the people of Klang.

He also clearly stated that he entered politics for the sole purpose of advancing the agenda of the people and giving voice to the voiceless and DAP was the platform in which he chose, adding that it was the best platform for him to do his part for society.

Santiago acted as a social worker more than a politician, his status as MP provided him with the platform to take the average Klang folks’ grouses to the dewan rakyat.

More so, he was always championing for the rights of the people of Klang in a very diplomatic manner, he was never one to have major altercations with any politician from different divides, he merely did his job and moved on to serve his constituents.

DAP’s decision to drop Santiago and field Kota Kemuning assemblyman V.Ganabatirau is one that would be on the minds of Malaysians and especially to Santiago’s beloved Klang constituents.

The reasoning behind DAP’s decision was to field fresh and younger candidates, yes, there might be no harm in fact fielding younger candidates, it would do good as a way to attract the younger electorate come GE15 but perhaps an exception in the case of Santiago where the party leadership should have really thought about his work and his influence in Klang which may not be able to be matched by his successor or in any way match with his predecessors before him?

Klang has also been a hot and winnable seat, while some might argue that the people of Klang merely voted for the party, DAP when they elected Santiago for three terms. However, their argument can be questioned. Could it be that they voted for Santiago, the individual and not the party that he is representing?

The simple Klang folks only want one thing, a representative that will help them with their grouses and have solutions for them and their problems. – Oct 28, 2022


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