DAP: Koay had better be sorry
(The Star) – A day after suspended DAP assemblyman Koay Teng Hai’s declaration that he would serve his constituents as an independent, the party’s powerful disciplinary committee has hit back by accusing him of being unapologetic after he missed a crucial Penang state assembly meeting.
The Pulau Tikus assemblyman was also blamed for giving a flimsy excuse of not being formally told of the assembly meeting, in which the state government tabled the constitutional amendment to bar party-hopping.
DAP’s disciplinary committee chief and party deputy chairman Tan Kok Wai said Koay had chosen to ignore the interests of the party for his own personal interests and put the entire Penang Pakatan Rakyat government at risk.
“We are very surprised that you are not apologetic at all after committing such a huge mistake,” said Tan in the suspension letter dated Jan 14, which was made available to The Star.
It was also stated in the letter that Koay’s reason for missing the sitting was not because of a personal holiday in the United States as previously reported, but because he was there to attend a programme on an invitation of the US embassy here.
Tan said Koay decided to go to the United States even after Penang Chief Minister and party secretary-general Lim Guan Eng rejected his leave application twice.
He said the absence of another representative, who had to skip the meeting due to a family emergency, left other Pakatan colleagues with the bare minimum of exactly 27 representatives needed for a two-thirds majority to amend the state constitution.
On Monday, Koay who has been suspended for six months, folded the DAP flag at a press conference and said he would remove all party logos from his service centre.
While the Penang Pakatan Rakyat backbenchers club chairman called for calm among his supporters, his wife Lee Su Li created a bit of a stir with her posting on his Facebook account implying that he was in trouble because he did not pray to the “tokong” (deity).
Some netizens have linked her post to Deputy Chief Minister I Datuk Mansor Othman’s alleged claim that the Chief Minister was regarded as a “tokong” by the people in Penang.
Meanwhile, Penang DAP chairman Chow Kon Yeow said it was wrong for Koay to describe himself as an “independent” assemblyman.
“He has to follow rules. It is not that when you are under suspension, you can disregard the party’s constitution and rules,” he said at a press conference at Wisma DAP in Rangoon Road yesterday.
