Ramasamy: DAP should not have godfathers

Prof. Dr.Ramasamy
  - Malaysiakini
Story by Susan Loone

There must be no ‘godfathers' in the DAP, since seat allocation during elections is decided by the party's central executive committee (CEC), Penang DAP deputy chief P Ramasamy has declared.

With the party gearing up for an early 13th general election, which could even be called in the first quarter of 2012, seat allocation is not to be decided by one person alone but by a committee comprising several DAP leaders he said.

Ramasamy, who is also Penang deputy chief minister II, said he agreed with DAP chairperson Karpal Singh, who recently warned that there should be no "warlords" in the party intending to promise or announce seats for their cronies.

He said Karpal was correct in issuing the statement as he is party chief, but disagreed that the remark was directed at him personally.

"We all accept that there should be no warlords in DAP, but there should not be any godfathers, too," Ramasamy said.

"I will talk to Karpal about the matter since I do not think he is targeting me personally, as reported by an online website.

"I understand politics very well. I was a lecturer in political science for 25 years," he added.

Ramasamy, the Prai assemblyperson, was referring to Karpal's latest statement, as reported on Free Malaysia Today (FMT), that "no one has the authority to choose or announce candidates and seats".

"Only the top leadership has the privilege to do so," Karpal, the Bukit Gelugor MP, said yesterday.

The website said Karpal, in "firing a broadside against Ramasamy", had stressed that the party would not hesitate to take stern disciplinary action against the warlords.

The well-known lawyer was referring to Tamil language dailies that quoted Ramasamy as announcing several decisions on the party's seat allocation.

However, Ramasamy denied that Karpal had targeted him personally with the remark, saying the "online report had twisted" the DAP chief's comments.

"If this (the story being twisted) continues, I plan to take the necessary action," he told Malaysiakini.

Reports in Tamil papers denied

Ramasamy is also upset with the Tamil language dailies for quoting him as saying that the party had decided to field three Indian women candidates.

The trio reportedly mentioned by Ramasamy are D Kamachi, Kasturi (a daughter of the late DAP stalwart P Patto) and a lawyer from Penang named only as Mangleswari.

Ramasamy, who is also Batu Kawan MP, said when asked about the three, he had merely replied that "there is a possibility that the party may field more women candidates".

He also denied telling the Tamil newspapers that parliamentarians M Kulasegaran (Ipoh Barat), Charles Santiago (Klang) and M Manogaran (Teluk Intan) and assemblyperson A Sivanesan (Sungkai) were "virtually certain" of contesting in the coming general election.

"How can I say this? I deny saying this," said an upset Ramasamy, who is also a member of the party's central executive committee.

According to the report, which also appeared on FMT, Ramasamy is quoted as saying that he would re-contest both his Prai state and Batu Kawan parliamentary seats.

To this, Ramasamy replied, "I have always maintained that the decision (on seat allocations) is up to the CEC. No one person can make a decision as there are other members in the committee.

"I am not a bloody fool. I feel the story has been twisted," he said.

When contacted, Karpal said his remarks were based on the newspaper reports quoting Ramasamy about two weeks ago.

The veteran politician said he responded on the matter because Ramasamy had not denied the reports.

However, Karpal said, the quote about "taking stern disciplinary action on warlords" in the FMT report was general remark and not targeted at Ramasamy.

He denied "firing a broadside" at Ramasamy, saying the statement was the "reporter's own words".

"But my message (on warlords) is aimed at others who intend to be such," he told Malaysiakini.

Karpal said he was cautioning party members on the matter as he did not wish to see a repeat of the situation in Johor occurring elsewhere.

Last Saturday, about 20 Bakri DAP division members held a protest in Muar against Johor DAP leader Dr Boo Cheng Hau, accusing him of being "autocratic".

During the protest, several members described Johor DAP secretary Tan Chen Choon as having a poor track record in serving the people.

The protesters also called on secretary-general Lim Guan Eng to take action against Boo.