In an interview with Sin Chew, Loke said DAP’s stance on the 1MDB cases had never wavered but had always been clear.

“That was why we (DAP) chose to collaborate with Dr Mahathir Mohamad in the first place,” he was quoted as saying.

Loke, who is also the transport minister, said Pakatan Harapan (PH) would not have allied itself with Mahathir if not for the objective of ousting Najib and his administration.

“So, DAP will never forget our stance. Anyone, including Ong Kian Ming, who said we have forgotten our stance, is talking rubbish. That is not true at all,” he said.

Ong, the former Bangi MP, had come to the defence of his DAP colleague Tony Pua, who is currently being investigated for sedition over remarks on the commutation of Najib’s sentence in the SRC International case.

The Federal Territories Pardons Board had announced that Najib’s prison sentence would be reduced from 12 years to six, while his RM210 million fine would be cut to RM50 million.

Ong said Pua’s efforts to reveal the magnitude of the 1MDB scandal should be remembered, and that Malaysians were still bearing the financial burden of the scandal’s debts.

“I hope the leaders of PH do not forget,” he said in a social media posting.

Ong subsequently urged DAP to clarify its stance on the 1MDB scandal, given that the party had made extensive use of it in its campaigns for the 2018 and 2022 general elections.

In the same Sin Chew interview, Loke said DAP would not take any disciplinary action against Pua over the former Damansara MP’s remarks on Najib’s reduced jail sentence.

He joked that Pua would not comply with such a request, given his character.

“The Pua I know would never do that. (Umno president) Ahmad Zahid Hamidi already said this is not DAP’s official stance. If they are not part of the DAP leadership, whatever they say doesn’t count,” he said.

“Similarly, if an Umno member were to say something, we cannot say their statements represent Umno in any way. In this democratic environment, I can’t just order people around.”