Loke denies DAP factions after Zahid’s ‘Team B’ claim

Loke denies DAP factions after Zahid’s ‘Team B’ claim

Party secretary-general Loke Siew Fook says there is only one ‘Team DAP’.

DAP secretary-general Loke Siew Fook said the party does not have a Team A, B or C.
KLANG:
DAP secretary-general Loke Siew Fook has denied the existence of factions within the party, following allegations that one faction was behind statements targeting incarcerated former prime minister Najib Razak.

This follows Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi’s remarks yesterday that he was informed of a “Team B” which went on the offensive against Najib and Umno Youth chief Dr Akmal Saleh.

“There is no Team A, Team B or Team C within DAP. There is only one – Team DAP,” Loke said at the Selangor DAP convention here today.

Zahid had said he met with Loke and asked why certain DAP members were making statements against Najib and Akmal.

Zahid did not name anyone in his remarks. However, last month, DAP’s Puchong MP Yeo Bee Yin drew brickbats from Zahid and other top Umno leaders after she took a dig at Najib following the former Umno president’s failed bid for house arrest.

Yeo had posted on Facebook that the High Court’s dismissal of Najib’s judicial review application was “another reason to celebrate this year end”.

Others who made similar statements lauding the court’s decision included DAP’s Ayer Keroh assemblyman Kerk Chee Yee and former Damansara MP Tony Pua.

Loke, who is also the transport minister, quipped that while the Selangor DAP convention lasts just a single day, the media over the past few days “had been all about DAP”, in reference to discussions at Umno’s general assembly from Jan 14 to 17.

“Even when other parties hold their general assemblies, it seems like the discussions are all about DAP. DAP, DAP, DAP … everything is DAP’s fault.

“My speech feels like the closing address on the debates that have taken place at Umno’s general assembly,” he said.

Fierce anti-DAP rhetoric, a pledge by Akmal to “fight DAP to the end”, and renewed calls to reunite Malay parties under Umno’s banner emerged as the defining moments of the Umno general assembly.

The delegates repeatedly brought up anti-DAP sentiments in their speeches, despite their senior leaders’ efforts to calm concerns and refocus the party on Malay unity.

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