DAP’s re-election suspicious, says Zulkifli
A candidate for CEC re-election accuses the DAP leadership of ‘maneuvering’ the outcome of the polls last Sunday to keep status quo.
Athi Shankar, FMT
An upset DAP grassroots leader has alleged that the party re-election held last Sunday was tainted with dirty tactics and undemocratic elements.
The DAP’s Bayan Baru parliamentary liaison committee chairman Zulkifli Mohd Noor alleged that the poll’s results had been pre-determined through the candidates’ list allegedly prepared by the party’s secretary-general Lim Guan Eng’s camp
Describing the list as ‘menu’, he said that it was distributed to delegates during the balloting process to ensure that only candidates closely aligned with the Lim Dynasty were elected to the central executive committee (CEC).
‘Lim Dynasty’ is a term coined to describe the internal faction led by Guan Eng and his father Kit Siang.
“I realised that I will lose when my name was not in the said ‘menu’.
“It was never a free and fair electoral process,” Zulkifli told a press conference here today.
Also present was Penang Malay Congress president Rahmad Isahak who quit the party last week.
Zulkifli contested and lost in the CEC re-election, which was held following a directive by the Registrar of Societies (ROS). He only managed to secure 220 votes.
A few days before the party election, Zulkifli had announced his intention to be the party’s first Malay national chairman, provided incumbent Karpal Singh calls it a day and paves way for him to takeover.
ROS issued the re-election directive after its investigations found that the party polls held in Penang on Dec 15, 2012 were marred by irregularities.
Zulkifli also described the letter written by Guan Eng, in four languages, to all delegates a few days before the re-election, as a dirty campaigning tactic to maintain the CEC status quo.
He further questioned as to why candidates were only issued the delegates’ list, void of their addresses or contact numbers, a few days before polling on Sept 29.
Zulkifli received the incomplete list via courier only two days before polling.
Suspicious irregularities during balloting
Another contentious issue was in regards to the use of indelible ink during balloting.
Zulkifli claimed that the ink can be wiped out from one’s finger within three to four minutes with a piece of tissue, contrary to an earlier official announcement that it could last for a few hours.
He said he was also curious to know on whose directive the ink was used during the party polls as the CEC did not exist at that time.
Nevertheless, he said the use of ink was not mentioned in the party’s constitution.
Zulkifli also claimed to have seen many new faces, whom he never met before or seen during last year’s party polls, voting as delegates during the re-election on Sunday.
