DAP leadership sticks to nominating Lim for Miri seat

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KUCHING: The internal conflict within DAP over the choice of candidate for Miri parliamentary seat turned ugly after several members threatened to pelt eggs at their state chairman Wong Ho Leng and secretary Chong Chieng Jen during a dialogue trying to resolve the issue recently.

Speaking to reporters here yesterday, Chong said the party leadership was still adamant in nominating DAP Senadin branch chairperson Lim Su Kien despite strong opposition by the group.

Calling on the group to set aside personal differences regarding Lim’s candidacy, Chong said Lim was the best candidate for the party to mount a serious challenge to defeat BN in Miri.

“The decision (to nominate Lim) has been made and agreed to by the party’s Select Committee. We hope the group will respect the
party’s decision… Don’t sabotage,” he said.

According to Chong, two dialogue sessions to mediate the matter had failed including one held on
May 27 where a group comprising about 20 people brought a tray of eggs meant to be thrown at him and Wong.

To a question, he said the party leadership was not going to take disciplinary action against the group because they believed they  were driven by emotions.

He also said the party would not step back from its decision to nominate Lim because she had the quality to be a good people’s representative.

“Records also show that our young candidates are capable of defeating veteran candidates from BN,” he said.

Lim, 39, used to work in the banking industry before quitting in 2007 to sign up as a full-time politician with DAP.

Her first taste of general election was in 2008 when she contested in Bintulu where she lost to BN-SPDP candidate Datuk Seri Tiong King Sing by 6,302 vote majority.

On May 17 this year, DAP announced that the party had endorsed Lim as its candidate for Miri during a press conference at the State Legislative Assembly Complex in Kuching.

The news was not only disagreed by some DAP members, but  also met with much chagrin among leaders of fellow Pakatan Rakyat ally Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) who had also planned to put their own candidate for the seat.

PKR state chairman Baru Bian had said that Pakatan Rakyat de facto leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim would have the final say on the candidacy.