Selangor councillor row rages on
(The Star) – The battle is still raging in the DAP camp of the Selangor government, with a former local councillor accusing two state leaders of conspiring to drop his name from the list of nominees named by the party.
Chandran Subramaniam, 52, said one of them is a state executive councillor while the other claims to represent the Indians in the state.
He said the two were responsible for his omission from the Hulu Selangor local council.
“The Hulu Selangor DAP and the state leadership confirmed my reappointment as a councillor but I have yet to receive an official letter from the state,” he told The Star yesterday.
He said state party leaders had decided that a former PKR member who recently joined the DAP and was given a councillor’s post was to resign to allow him (Chandran) to fill the slot.
“However, the councillor did not resign and everything is in limbo.
“I don’t know whether I will be made a councillor or not,” said Chandran.
He said about 150 families were interested in joining DAP but had become reluctant now after hearing of his predicament.
“I feel action should be taken against those who betray the party’s interests,” he said, adding that backstabbing was not expected of a party that claims to practise competency, accountability and transparency.
It was reported early last week that it has been a month since the Selangor DAP decided that five nominees would be sworn in for local council seats.
Two of the five DAP branch chairmen Ivan Ho (of Taman Gembira) and K. Yogasigamany (Taman Chi Lung) had said they had not received any indication of their appointment. They claimed to have received different versions (about the matter) but nothing official from the state leaders.
Meanwhile, Mentri Besar Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim said there are still 25 seats to be filled in the local councils.
“We can’t make any decision on filling them up as we have not received all the names yet,” he said.
Selangor DAP chairman Teresa Kok was reportedly angry with state executive councillor Ronnie Liu for allegedly amending the list of names submitted to Khalid.
It is understood there was a heated argument between Kok and Liu when the changes were discussed in the state executive council meeting last month.
DAP adviser Lim Kit Siang had to rush down from Penang to chair an emergency meeting, and he ordered the list submitted by the state DAP to be adhered to.
Officials attributed the delay to PKR’s inability to resolve the protests over the filling up of the nominees to the local councils.
