‘Quit move may lessen party’s impact in GE14’

KUCHING: Assistant Minister for Youth and Sports Datuk Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah doubts whether DAP will continue to make impact in the coming general elections.

He said this is in view of the resignation of four elected representatives in Malacca from the party on Sunday.

“It looks like there’s turmoil brewing in DAP. This is really unexpected. Just like the saying ‘air tenang, jangan disangka tak ada buaya’ which literally means ‘calm water does not necessarily mean there is no crocodile’, this is what is happening in DAP now,” he said in a statement yesterday.

He was asked to comment on the recent resignations of three DAP assemblymen Lim Jak Wong ( Bachang), Chin Choon Seong ( Kesidang) and Goh Leong San ( Duyong), and a DAP MP Sim Tong Him ( Kota Melaka).

These DAP leaders were reported to have cited disappointment in the party’s leadership as the major reason for quitting the party.

Abdul Karim, who is also Assistant Minister for Housing, said: “It looks like there is disillusion among DAP leaders and members on its top brass leaders for those four YBs to step down simultaneously.

“I am unsure this party can make much impact in the forthcoming general elections at the rate of problems they are facing,” he added.

The current Parliament will automatically dissolve on June 24, 2018 and elections have to be called within 60 days from dissolution.

During the 2013 general elections, DAP won 38 out of the 51 parliamentary seats it contested throughout Malaysia.

In Sarawak, state DAP won five out of the 11 parliamentary constituencies it contested.

The five parliamentary seats presently held by DAP are Bandar Kuching, Stampin, Sarikei, Sibu and Lanang.