Urimai chairman P Ramasamy has challenged DAP secretary-general Loke Siew Fook to resign from the party’s top post as well if he believes its handling of former prime minister Najib Razak’s conditional pardon reflects a failure in its political direction.
Ramasamy, a former DAP leader, said the more important question was not whether Loke should resign as transport minister, but whether he was prepared to take political responsibility as DAP secretary-general.
‘If Loke genuinely believes that DAP has failed in its political direction over the Najib issue, he should come forward and resign as secretary-general together with other leaders who share responsibility for the party’s decisions,’ he said in a statement today.
‘A Cabinet resignation alone does not resolve the deeper political problem facing DAP.’
Ramasamy questions timing of resignation
Ramasamy also questioned whether Loke was serious about resigning from the Cabinet, given that the resignation would only take effect when Najib begins serving the remainder of his sentence under house arrest.
He said the goalposts appeared to have shifted from Loke’s initial announcement that his resignation was linked to Najib’s pardon to the timing of Najib’s house arrest.
Loke had said he would resign as transport minister over the conditional pardon, which allows Najib to serve the remainder of his jail term at home, subject to a RM50 million payment and other conditions.
He later said his resignation would take effect when Najib begins house arrest, while other DAP leaders in the unity government would remain in their positions in the interests of political stability.
Ramasamy disputes DAP’s Chinese support claim
Ramasamy also challenged Loke’s assertion that DAP still commands about 80% of Chinese voters’ support, saying it would be ‘a considerable achievement’ if the party secured even 40% at the 16th general election.
He said Loke should stop assuming that the Chinese community would be politically abandoned without DAP.
‘The Chinese community is not politically helpless,’ he said, adding that it had produced generations of voters, professionals, entrepreneurs, intellectuals and community leaders capable of making their own political choices.
‘DAP does not have a monopoly over Chinese aspirations. Indeed, the greater danger is for DAP to assume that Chinese voters have nowhere else to go.’
Loke’s 80% figure was based on recent state election results, although he acknowledged that securing 90% would be difficult.
He also said DAP needed to rebuild support beyond its traditional base ahead of the 16th general election.
