Political persecution should stop, time to move on – Chong

KUCHING: There should be no more political persecution and everyone should move on from here on out, says Democratic Action Party ( DAP) Sarawak chairman Chong Chieng Jen.

Chong, who is the federal Deputy Minister of Domestic Trade and Consumerism, made these remarks following the decision by Court of Appeal to dismiss the appeals of Sarawak Legislative Assembly ( DUN) Speaker Datuk Amar Mohamad Asfia Awang Nassar and International Trade and ECommerce Minister Dato Sri Wong Soon Koh against the High Court’s ruling to reinstate Dr Ting Tiong Choon as Pujut assemblyman.

“Let him ( Dr Ting) do his job – he has done his job for two years; he has done his job pretty well and performed his duties as a member of the Assembly.

“Let’s not continue the persecution – that is all I have to say to the DUN Speaker (Asfia) and the Sarawak government.

“Enough is enough – alright, you had the chance, both at High Court and Court of Appeal levels,” he told reporters yesterday.

Chong, who is also Stampin MP, said that a DUN Speaker must exercise discretion within the ambit of the law.

He pointed out that one of the key principals of the case was the issue of disqualification based upon claims of Dr Ting’s disloyalty to the country and Sarawak.

“After having denounced his Australian citizenship, which came with a lot of benefits offered by the Australian government, he ( Dr Ting) came back to serve his own country,” he said.

Chong also said under the Constitution of Malaysia, there is a provision that allows a foreigner, who has denounced his or her foreign citizenship and re- acquired the Malaysian citizenship, to become an elected representative validly.

“So why a Sarawakian cannot have the same benefit?” he questioned.

“Therefore, all the actions since the beginning of the saga in the DUN – the way the motion was passed, the attitude of the Speaker as well as those from the (then) Barisan Nasional ( BN) -led government; now the Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS)led government – well, point to political persecution.”

Meanwhile, Dr Ting expressed his gratitude to the Court of Appeal for its decision that was in his favour, as well as to his legal team.

“I was very emotional — it has been quite hard for me over the past 12 to 14 months. Nevertheless, I thank my voters in Pujut for their support.”

Accompanying Chong and Dr Ting were Bandar Kuching MP Dr Kelvin Yii, Pelawan assemblyman David Wong, Pending assemblywomen Violet Yong, Bukit Assek assemblywoman Irene Chang and Dr Ting’s lead counsel Chong Siew Chiang.