LETTER | Loke, a puppet?

LETTER | DAP secretary-general Anthony Loke said that he had no respect for me because I used the party for my personal gains such as power and position.

Furthermore, he also said that I was not sincere in leaving the party.

Loke (above) can say what he wants to appease the forces behind the powerful in the DAP. 

As the number-one man of the party, he simply lacks the leadership credentials to steer the party away from cronyism and nepotism.

As I have said, the party is not the same one I admired and joined in 2005 after I retired from Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia.

Whether he understands or not, I had to resign from a well-paying position in Singapore in 2008 to contest the parliamentary elections in 2008.

Before I left Singapore, the director of the institute where I was working was reluctant to accept my resignation letter.

It is not that I joined the DAP because I didn’t have a well-paying job in Singapore.

Loke has hardly been in his present position for more than a few years, but he behaves like an authoritarian leader in the DAP.

Ironically, it is the same Loke who refused to get a better deal for the DAP after the last general election even though the party won 40 parliamentary seats.

Apparently without consultation, he refused to make reasonable demands upon Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim for a better deal for the DAP.

Having given in to the dominant forces, he has the temerity to chide me for insincerity, riding on the DAP, and twisting facts.

If he is such a democrat, he should perhaps explain to the public why the five-men committee headed by him refused to entertain the reasonable request of the Penang DAP state committee in selecting the candidates for the state election on Aug 12, 2023. 

Why did this committee simply adhere to the wishes of one or two persons to name the candidates of their choice?

Yes, by all means, there is a need to introduce new blood, but certainly not tainted blood and parachuting in dubious candidates from outside. 

Incumbent chief minister Chow Kon Yeow didn’t have any say in the selection of candidates determined by the forces aligned to the powerful and entrenched.

Chow might become the next chief minister but, unfortunately, he will be a lame duck one.

It is a matter of time before he is removed by the forces aligned to one or two powerful persons in the DAP.

Loke might talk about sincerity to the point of absurdity all he wants but the public and party members know that he is not a capable leader of the party.

DAP, once the political and cultural shield against ethnic and religious extremism, has been reduced to a pitiful state under the leadership of Loke.

Is there any difference between the DAP, the MCA, and the MIC?

Is there a slow but inexorable move on the part of the DAP to be labelled as the “MCA 2.0”?

As far as I am concerned, it is shameful and distasteful on Loke’s part to engage in name-calling. He wants to give the impression that he is combative but sadly lacks courage and fortitude badly.

He conveniently forgets that he is nothing but a yes-man and the puppet of the dark forces aligned to family-based politicians in the party.

I really wonder if Loke, with a small mind, can lead the party to greater political heights. If he cannot even defend the ethnic, cultural, and religious rights of the numerically smaller communities, then what sincerity he is talking about.

What pathetic leadership!

P RAMASAMY is former Penang DAP deputy chairperson and currently caretaker deputy chief minister.

The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of Malaysiakini.