The Kota Melaka MP especially took aim at DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng who called their resignation an act of disloyalty.
“I have been with DAP since 1974, and those criticising my decision to leave should do some soul-searching and not divert the issue to conceal weaknesses in the party.
“They (the party leadership) should ask themselves why a man wants to seek divorce after 43 years of marriage,” he told the daily yesterday.
On Sunday, Sim, Bachang assemblyman Lim Jak Wong, Kesidang assemblyman Chin Choon Seong and Duyong assemblyman Goh Leong San announced they were leaving DAP. They declared themselves as independents in the Dewan Rakyat (Sim) and the Malacca legislative assembly.
Sim argued that no person in the right frame of mind would want to resign after more than three decades in a party without a valid reason.
“I was committed to the party’s struggle before the current leadership deviated from its core objectives.
“My loyalty and commitment were to the party and I am not a person who will kow tow (be subservient) to party leaders who seem to have forgotten their humble beginnings,” he was quoted as saying by The Star, adding that he had contested on the DAP ticket since 1982.
Sim and Goh were also quitting the party just days after the end of a one-year suspension imposed on them by the party from Feb 7 last year.
He continued to assail the party leadership for trying to shift the blame for any issues in Malacca DAP to him.
“I am unfazed by certain party leaders who want to conceal the truth and are attempting to shift the blame on me by painting the picture that I am disloyal.
“Previously, it was wrong for me to air my grievances in public on certain issues. Now, I don’t have the right to resign?” Sim said, according to The Star.