Liew misled Johor PH in bid for senator’s seat, claims DAP leader

(FMT) – A Johor DAP leader has accused Liew Chin Tong of misleading the state Pakatan Harapan (PH) council in his bid to be re-appointed as senator.

In a statement, Dr Boo Cheng Hau alleged that Johor DAP chairman Liew bypassed the state DAP committee and the party’s assemblymen by bringing the issue to the Johor PH council.

Boo said he had sent an e-mail to the PH presidential council to investigate an incident where “Liew reassured the Johor PH council that he could get support from the Johor Barisan Nasional-Perikatan Nasional (Johor BN-PN) government, and other parties concerned, to be appointed as senator under Johor’s state quota”.

According to him, he was informed that Liew had misled the Johor PH council after receiving statements from various leaders in the council.

He had also been told that a resolution on Johor BN-PN’s support for Liew would be proposed at the Johor state assembly, although it was withdrawn after Liew failed to prove that he could garner enough support.

The “vast majority” of PH assemblymen in Johor were unaware of the proposed resolution, he said, which had never been made known to or approved by the Johor DAP committee.

“I have raised this issue and questioned Liew in the Johor DAP state committee WhatsApp chat group, and he never denied the incident,” Boo said.

In response, state DAP deputy chair Teo Nie Ching said Boo should not make “baseless allegations” that cast doubt on the credibility of DAP leaders.

In a statement, Teo said Johor PH nominated a candidate in November 2020 and decided to explore the nomination again in August. On both occasions, the state government said it was not open to nominations – causing the position to remain vacant.

She said in the process of exploring nominees, the DAP national candidature committee agreed that in the event of the position being opened for nomination, the party would nominate Liew to the position, but subject to the consent of its PH allies.

“Nomination for candidates in DAP is decided by the national candidature committee, not by the state committee,” Teo added.

“Boo, who used to be Johor DAP chairman, should know this process well.”