Lim: I never blamed Dyana for loss
(FMT) – DAP secretary general Lim Guan Eng refuted claims that he had blamed newcomer candidate Dyana Sofya Mohd Daud for the loss of the Teluk Intan parliamentary seat.
The Penang chief minister said he and his party had no regrets in naming 27 year-old-Dyana as DAP candidate before stating that the low voter turnouts, intimidation and threats from Umno and the fact that Dyana is still new in politics as the cause of the loss.
“In my speech last night outside the Teluk Intan Election Operations Centre, I had stressed that the DAP had no regrets in naming Dyana as the DAP candidate,”
“I had stated three reasons. One, the drop in voter turnout from 48,649 votes or 80.4% during last year’s general election to 39,850 votes or 66.5% during this by-election was a critical factor in reducing DAP’s previous 7,313 majority into a narrow win of 238 votes for BN,”
“Voters were intimidated by the threats of development politics in withholding development that can be provided by a Cabinet Minister, as well as the samseng politics of threats and violence by Umno during the election period,”
“Perhaps because Dyana is new, a woman, young and the first Malay parliamentary candidate for Teluk Intan from the DAP, she is not fully accepted by all three races,” he said in a statement this morning.
Meanwhile, Lim also asked if newly-elected Teluk Intan MP Mah Siew Keong will dare to demand from Umno vice-president Zahid Hamidi, who is also Home Minister, an apology for calling the Chinese ungrateful.
Lim was unsure if Mah had the guts to do so adding that the latter will have to prove that he can deliver his promises made in Teluk Intan during the campaign period.
“Whether Mah will be an “Umno” Minister will depend on whether he can pass his first test by getting Home Affairs Minister (Datuk Seri) Ahmad Zahid Hamidi to apologise for calling Chinese ungrateful.
“Mah will have to prove that he can deliver on his promises made to Teluk Intan voters during the next three years and not just depend on “goodies’ given to the voters during the election period,” he added.
Yesterday, Barisan Nasional candidate Mah Siew Keong recaptured the Teluk Intan parliamentary seat after defeating Dyana Sofya Mohd Daud of the DAP by a 238-vote majority in today’s by-election.
