The resignation of one elected representative from his or her party is bad enough, but when four members of the same party make a collective decision to quit, then the situation is akin to “something is rotten in the state of Denmark”, a line from Shakespeare’s Hamlet that DAP supremo Lim Kit Siang likes to quote.
Only this time, it’s DAP that seems to be having this problem. Regardless of it involving an MP and three state assemblymen from one state, Malacca, it is still a significant blow.
Simply put, no matter how many DAP leaders try to downplay the sudden resignation by Kota Melaka MP Sim Tong Him, Bachang assemblyman Lim Jak Wong, Kesidang assemblyman Chin Choon Seong and Duyong assemblyman Goh Leong San yesterday, they really cannot deny the doubts such actions have raised.
The reasons given by these elected representatives – two of whom were state DAP chiefs previously – were the lack of confidence in party secretary-general Lim Guan Eng and that “DAP had deviated from the party’s original goals”.
The fact that Guan Eng had started off his political career in the same Kota Melaka parliamentary seat, winning the seat in 1986 – he took over from his father Kit Siang, who had two stints as MP – 1969 to 1978 and 1982-1986 – only serves to heighten how the party seems to have come apart in the state.
There has been quite a fight between two key factions in Malacca DAP for almost 20 years. It escalated with Guan Eng and his wife, former Kota Laksamana assemblywoman Betty Chew, both receiving the lowest number of votes in the state DAP committee elections in 2005.
Not surprisingly, Guan Eng moved to Penang’s Bagan parliamentary seat in 2008.
In the 2015 state DAP election, however, the tables were turned as then state party chief Goh (who quit yesterday) was ousted from the committee and was replaced by state DAP liaison secretary Tey Kok Kiew, who is a known ally of Guan Eng.
Sim and Goh are also resigning from the party just days after the end of their 12-month suspension, from Feb 7 last year.
The duo were suspended by the party, reportedly for disparaging the party. However, the party insisted that they still could act as DAP representatives in Parliament and the state legislative assembly.
A telling state of affairs in the state is the quote from Sim at the press conference yesterday in announcing their resignation.
“Last time when Lim Guan Eng was in Malacca, he was rejected by the DAP members that he ran away to Penang. And then, he removed the DAP leaders there and his party colleagues in Malacca,” Sim said.
All four candidates will now remain as independents in the Dewan Rakyat and the Malacca state legislative assembly, respectively.
The fate of DAP in Malacca is still up in the air, but with reduced representation and the resignations which reflects a loss of confidence in the state and national party leadership, it could prove to be more telling than DAP would like to admit.
Charles Vincent is an FMT reader.
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