‘Warlord’ and ‘godfather’ choking DAP
DAP is bogged down in a tit-for-tat battle between national chairman Karpal Singh and Penang Deputy Chief Minister II Dr P. Ramasamy, in which the ultimate loser would be the party itself.
DAP is staring down a precipice, vis-a-vis Indian voter support, because Dr Ramasamy – although a “parachute candidate” at the last general election – is highly regarded in the Indian community as a daring academic who spoke out for injustice and took on the government and won.
By Baradan Kuppusamy, The Star
THE feud in DAP between national chairman Karpal Singh and deputy secretary-general Dr P. Ramasamy could not have come at a worse time for the party.
With a general election imminent and all parties busy preparing for the big battle ahead, DAP is supposed to be well-prepared.
But it is suddenly bogged down in a tit-for-tat battle between the two men, in which the ultimate loser would be DAP itself.
The threat to quit the party by Dr Ramasamy, who is Penang Deputy Chief Minister II, has put DAP in a fix, with one of his supporters declaring: “Let them (his opponents) get the Indian votes, if they can.”
DAP is staring down a precipice, vis-a-vis Indian voter support, because Dr Ramasamy – although a “parachute candidate” at the last general election – is highly regarded in the Indian community as a daring academic who spoke out for injustice and took on the government and won.
Dr Ramasamy was a political science lecturer at the University Kebangsaan Malaysia for nearly 30 years and was on a year-to-year contract in his final years. The contract was not renewed in 2007.
He left in a huff and joined DAP, where he had a long-standing personal relationship with adviser Lim Kit Siang.
In 2008, he was fielded in the Prai state seat as well as in the Batu Kawan parliamentary seat, winning both. It was almost like a retirement gift for him.
He went on to become a state executive councillor, DCM II and de facto Indian leader in DAP and Pakatan Rakyat.
Karpal accused him of forgetting his roots and taking on the trappings of a “warlord”, a dirty word in DAP that signals one is building personal power as against party power.
The party grassroots had complained about how Dr Ramasamy dealt with matters, like the Hindu Endowment Board.
The party’s Indian affairs bureau, which he heads, also came in for criticism.
The informal system of selecting candidates by the bureau was sidelined and Dr Ramasamy started choosing his own candidates.
He is also alleged to have offered seats to many newcomers, as well as benefits to a small group of ex-MIC members, to the exclusion of long time DAP members. These benefits include datukship, medals and other rewards.
And than there was the M. Manoharan affair, in which the Kota Alam Shah assemblyman was suspended for six months by the disciplinary committee for making disparaging remarks about the Jalur Gemilang.
Dr Ramasamy, who disliked Manoharan for siding with Hindraf leader P. Uthayakumar, was said to have played a key role in the suspension.
Manoharan and his wife went to see Karpal, who then used his influence to have the suspension lifted, signalling at once who was the leader with the clout.
Dr Ramasamy’s detractors – who include MPs and state assemblymen who constantly griped in private – said he rode roughshod over the DAP grassroots.
The last straw that broke the proverbial camel’s back was his statement in the Makkal Osai newspaper last week that four incumbents, including himself, and three women were sure candidates at the next election.
That statement, although subsequently denied, was the cue that Dr Ramasamy’s detractors were waiting for. They fell on it for all it was worth and the attack on Dr Ramasamy came out in the open.
Karpal, who is Bukit Gelugor MP, had been out for Dr Ramasamy’s blood for several years, until the feud exploded in the open over the ongoing warlord-godfather spat.
Party secretary-general and Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng was flabbergasted by the ferocity of Karpal’s attack on Sunday. The chairman essentially questioned, who was this upstart Dr Ramasamy?
After being an academic for 30 years, perhaps Dr Ramasamy is unsuited for the brutal world of politics.
In his career as a politician, he made enemies at every turn with his many unguarded words and open associations.
Friends turned foes and fair weather individuals, many ex-MIC people, gathered around him to the exclusion of party faithfuls.
He did not have the political mind nor had he developed one in the short years he was in active politics.
He negotiated the strange territory, ie DAP, like he had done as an academic, always speaking what comes to his mind.
