S Rutra
Free Malaysia Today
KUALA LUMPUR | Dec 4, 2012
KUALA LUMPUR: Three DAP leaders who concurrently hold parliamentary and state assembly seats have left it to the party’s top decision-making body to decide on the one-man, one-seat proposal.
Seputeh member of parliament Teresa Kok, Taiping MP Nga Kor Ming and Wong Ho Leng (Sibu) have all said that they would abide by whatever decision taken by the DAP central executive committee (CEC) on the matter.
Teresa told FMT that she will abide by whatever the DAP CEC decided and although she was not against the proposal, it had to be deliberated further.
The one-man, one-seat was proposed by DAP chairman Karpal Singh a few months ago. The proposal has received mixed response from DAP leaders.
The proposal would confine a candidate to contest only one seat, either parliamentary or a state seat, at the upcoming general election.
Teresa however declined to say if she would settle for a parliament or a state seat, if the proposal is adopted by the party top leadership and enforced at the next general election.
She is a three-term Seputeh MP and a first term state assemblywoman for the Kinrara state seat in Selangor.
The DAP national organising secretary also said that she was not totally against Karpal’s proposal but the matter should deliberated further, getting views of other party leaders, as well as grassroots members.
The 48-year-old politician said some mainstream media had twisted her statement when she initially responded to Karpal’s proposal.
“Even at the Selangor DAP convention, I read out a press statement to the media to clear the air on the matter. This was because my earlier statement was made to sound like I was against the proposal,” she added.
She said the matter was also looked at by the DAP candidature committee, appointed by the party leadership after the proposal was mooted at the party’s CEC.
DAP congress next weekend
Teresa said the committee should take into consideration DAP’s strategy to secure more seats at the upcoming general election.
“It is not in my mind to discredit Karpal’s proposal but rather to state the fact that it is not a new issue…it has been referred to the CEC and a decision is yet to be taken by the CEC,” she added.
She said the party decided to field her for the Kinrara state seat at the 2008 general election after taking into account two key considerations.
“Firstly the seat was bordering Seputeh and secondly the party secretary-general Lim Guan Eng felt that we needed a strong candidate for the seat,” she added.
She said it was the same situation in eight other cases.
“At the end of the day, whatever perks I receive as an MP and assemblywoman, is utilised for party work and the constituencies. It is not for me…I am also not greedy for power,” she stressed.
Party sources revealed that the proposal would be tabled at the party’s national congress next weekend in Penang.
A party insider also told FMT that so far, eight out of 10 DAP branches who responded to the proposal do not favour the one-man, one-seat rule.
Nga , who is also Pantai Remis (Perak) state assemblyman, said he agreed to Karpal’s proposal in principle.
“However, I feel since this involves the party’s election strategy, it should be dealt separately according to the need of a particular constituency,” he said.
Wong on the other hand when contacted said, via an SMS text message: ” Let party decide and we abide.”
Below is the list of DAP leaders who concurrently hold parliament and state seats;
1.Chow Kon Yeow — Tanjong (Parliament)/Padang Kota (state assembly)
2.P. Ramasamy — Batu Kawan/Prai
3.Lim Guan Eng — Bagan/ Air Puteh
4.Ngeh Koo Ham — Beruas/Setiawan
5.Nga Kor Ming — Taiping/Pantai Remis
6.Teresa Kok Suh Sim — Seputeh/Kinrara
7.Loke Siew Fook — Rasah/Lobak
8.Wong Ho Leng — Sibu/Bukit Asek
9.Chong Chieng Jen — Bandar Kuching/Kota Sentosa