“Pua is not a nobody in the party as alleged by the DAP secretary-general.

“He has been the policy adviser to the DAP secretary-general since May 18 last year,” MCA vice-president Ti Lian Ker said in a statement.

“Loke must therefore take disciplinary action against Pua or sack him as his policy adviser to prove DAP’s commitment to the unity government.

“I dare you, Loke!”

At a DAP fundraising dinner here last night, Pua said Pakatan Harapan (PH) supporters must prove that “a multiracial party that is clean and not corrupt” could do better “than corrupt coalitions (sic) like Barisan Nasional, Umno and Bersatu”.

Loke today said Pua’s remarks were uncalled for, describing it as an “attack” on a key coalition partner in the unity government.

He added that Pua no longer held any position in DAP and his comments last night were in his personal capacity and did not represent the party in any way.

Loke stressed that DAP’s top leadership decided to cooperate with other political coalitions in order to achieve political stability, and as such, provocative statements against its partners in the unity government were not in line with the party’s position.

In response, Ti said it was commendable that DAP had “learned to respect Umno’s sensitivities”.

“It is good to note that they have learned and have proven to be super-sensitive towards Umno, unlike before.

“DAP is still trying very hard to (get) Malay votes via Umno. Unlike MCA, Umno supporters are still suspicious of DAP based on their provocative statements and politicking in the past.”