P Gunasegaram
COMMENT | Ahead of nomination day on Nov 5, some of the selection of candidates by DAP, especially for parliamentary seats, are rather puzzling and disappointing with some established names being summarily dropped and others retained. Others have on the surface withdrawn their candidatures with little reason.
But perhaps the greatest disappointment of them all is the retention of former DAP secretary-general and current chairperson Lim Guan Eng in Bagan who may lose his seat even if he wins because he faces charges in court.
On Aug 9, 2020 Guan Eng claimed trial to a charge at the Butterworth Sessions Court for allegedly using his position at the time for personal gratification of RM3.3 million in relation to the undersea tunnel project. The charge was made after Pakatan Harapan lost power.
If he is found guilty, the sentence meted out is likely to disqualify him from his position as MP if he wins at Bagan at GE15. This is not the first time he is being charged with a corruption offence.
On Sept 11, 2020, he was charged in the Sessions Court in Butterworth with wrongfully misappropriating two plots of land to two developers in Penang when he was the chief minister of Penang.
Lim was charged with "wrongfully misappropriating" the land in question, worth some RM135 million to a developer, Ewein Zenith Sdn Bhd on Feb 17, 2015, at the Land and Mines Department at Komtar.
Previously, after he became finance minister under Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s Pakatan Harapan cabinet, a case was withdrawn against him. The High Court in Penang on Sept 3, 2018, freed Guan Eng from two graft charges over the alleged conversion of state land status and purchase of a bungalow at below market value.
Given the court cases, he faces currently, it would certainly serve DAP and Pakatan Harapan better if Guan Eng stood down from contesting in the elections until he has at least cleared his name.
This is what PKR deputy president Rafizi Ramli did ahead of the elections of 2018 when he was facing charges under the Official Secrets Act (OSA).
Guan Eng is a six-term MP and has been in politics since the 1980s, or for some 40 years. He was DAP secretary-general for some 18 years and became chairperson this year.
He has been heavily criticised by Malay parties and leaders for his role as finance minister where he slashed subsidies of some RM200 million to fishermen while expediting some RM35 billion in GST (Goods and Services Tax) and income tax refunds. He wrongly claimed that government loans at the time exceeded RM1 trillion.
Given the court charges that Guan Eng faces, the strong criticism of his record as finance minister in some aspects at least and his long presence in the political arena, if anyone needs to step down to make way for others, it should be Guan Eng. Right now, he is more of a liability rather than an asset to the party going into GE15.
Rumblings of nepotism
And add to that, rumblings of nepotism following the choice of his sister, Senator Lim Hui Ying to run for Parliament in Tanjong, the seat previously held by DAP chief minister Chow Kon Yeow, who is now moving over to take over Kasthuri Patto’s seat at Batu Kawan.
Kasthuri’s departure has been marked with controversy although she has denied she was asked to step down. Speculation has been swirling that she was pressured to do so at the relatively young age of 42. She has served two terms and is currently involved in pursuing social causes. The MP’s position would have given her a platform for continuing with these activities.
Then you have the departure of up-and-coming DAP technocrats such as Ong Kian Ming and Tony Pua, promising younger faces who have been touted as leaders with potential for the future. Both say the decision not to contest is their own but few, if any, believe them.
Meantime, outgoing Charles Santiago, a popular and hardworking MP in Klang, has been dropped in a rather controversial fashion. Although he urged support for the new DAP candidate, he denied DAP secretary-general Anthony Loke’s assertion that it was indicated to him that 2018 would be the start of his last term.
It would appear then that some of these moves are attempts to purge the party of MPs who are likely to take an independent stance over party matters and to put in place loyalists who are likely to support the current leadership.
The offshoot from all this is that the image of the DAP heading up to the polls is that of a party in disarray and some confusion, a rare place for the DAP to be in recent times. All this for the one-person court cluster in DAP, Lim Guan Eng, almost like Umno and Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, one could say.
Whatever happens from here it can’t be very great for DAP’s end game, one which is difficult to understand right now. Perhaps DAP, like Umno, wants to keep all options open post-GE15, not only to get into power but to keep its chairperson out of jail.
If only Guan Eng had declined to contest on his own like most of the other dropped candidates said they wanted not to, presumptively of their own accord, this sad state of affairs would be unnecessary. After all, how does one tell the party chairperson not to contest?
COMMENT | Ahead of nomination day on Nov 5, some of the selection of candidates by DAP, especially for parliamentary seats, are rather puzzling and disappointing with some established names being summarily dropped and others retained. Others have on the surface withdrawn their candidatures with little reason.
But perhaps the greatest disappointment of them all is the retention of former DAP secretary-general and current chairperson Lim Guan Eng in Bagan who may lose his seat even if he wins because he faces charges in court.
On Aug 9, 2020 Guan Eng claimed trial to a charge at the Butterworth Sessions Court for allegedly using his position at the time for personal gratification of RM3.3 million in relation to the undersea tunnel project. The charge was made after Pakatan Harapan lost power.
If he is found guilty, the sentence meted out is likely to disqualify him from his position as MP if he wins at Bagan at GE15. This is not the first time he is being charged with a corruption offence.
On Sept 11, 2020, he was charged in the Sessions Court in Butterworth with wrongfully misappropriating two plots of land to two developers in Penang when he was the chief minister of Penang.
Lim was charged with "wrongfully misappropriating" the land in question, worth some RM135 million to a developer, Ewein Zenith Sdn Bhd on Feb 17, 2015, at the Land and Mines Department at Komtar.
Previously, after he became finance minister under Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s Pakatan Harapan cabinet, a case was withdrawn against him. The High Court in Penang on Sept 3, 2018, freed Guan Eng from two graft charges over the alleged conversion of state land status and purchase of a bungalow at below market value.
Given the court cases, he faces currently, it would certainly serve DAP and Pakatan Harapan better if Guan Eng stood down from contesting in the elections until he has at least cleared his name.
This is what PKR deputy president Rafizi Ramli did ahead of the elections of 2018 when he was facing charges under the Official Secrets Act (OSA).
Guan Eng is a six-term MP and has been in politics since the 1980s, or for some 40 years. He was DAP secretary-general for some 18 years and became chairperson this year.
He has been heavily criticised by Malay parties and leaders for his role as finance minister where he slashed subsidies of some RM200 million to fishermen while expediting some RM35 billion in GST (Goods and Services Tax) and income tax refunds. He wrongly claimed that government loans at the time exceeded RM1 trillion.
Given the court charges that Guan Eng faces, the strong criticism of his record as finance minister in some aspects at least and his long presence in the political arena, if anyone needs to step down to make way for others, it should be Guan Eng. Right now, he is more of a liability rather than an asset to the party going into GE15.
Rumblings of nepotism
And add to that, rumblings of nepotism following the choice of his sister, Senator Lim Hui Ying to run for Parliament in Tanjong, the seat previously held by DAP chief minister Chow Kon Yeow, who is now moving over to take over Kasthuri Patto’s seat at Batu Kawan.
Kasthuri’s departure has been marked with controversy although she has denied she was asked to step down. Speculation has been swirling that she was pressured to do so at the relatively young age of 42. She has served two terms and is currently involved in pursuing social causes. The MP’s position would have given her a platform for continuing with these activities.
Then you have the departure of up-and-coming DAP technocrats such as Ong Kian Ming and Tony Pua, promising younger faces who have been touted as leaders with potential for the future. Both say the decision not to contest is their own but few, if any, believe them.
Meantime, outgoing Charles Santiago, a popular and hardworking MP in Klang, has been dropped in a rather controversial fashion. Although he urged support for the new DAP candidate, he denied DAP secretary-general Anthony Loke’s assertion that it was indicated to him that 2018 would be the start of his last term.
It would appear then that some of these moves are attempts to purge the party of MPs who are likely to take an independent stance over party matters and to put in place loyalists who are likely to support the current leadership.
The offshoot from all this is that the image of the DAP heading up to the polls is that of a party in disarray and some confusion, a rare place for the DAP to be in recent times. All this for the one-person court cluster in DAP, Lim Guan Eng, almost like Umno and Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, one could say.
Whatever happens from here it can’t be very great for DAP’s end game, one which is difficult to understand right now. Perhaps DAP, like Umno, wants to keep all options open post-GE15, not only to get into power but to keep its chairperson out of jail.
If only Guan Eng had declined to contest on his own like most of the other dropped candidates said they wanted not to, presumptively of their own accord, this sad state of affairs would be unnecessary. After all, how does one tell the party chairperson not to contest?
P GUNASEGARAM, a former editor at online and print news publications, and head of equity research, is an independent writer and analyst.
No comments:
Post a Comment