Ramasamy quits DAP

Former Penang deputy chief minister P Ramasamy was one of seven incumbents dropped by the party for the polls in the state.

(FMT) – Former Penang deputy chief minister P Ramasamy has quit DAP.

The three-term Perai assemblyman, who joined DAP in 2005, made the announcement just weeks after he was dropped from the list of candidates for the Penang state election.

“I handed in my resignation letter to (DAP) secretary-general Loke Siew Fook this morning,” he said at a press conference here.

“I made this decision after a lot of thought, and I also talked to my friends and family beforehand.”

DAP had chosen S Sundarajoo, a former chief operating officer of property developer Eco World Sdn Bhd, as the party’s candidate for the Perai seat.

Ramasamy, who first won the Perai seat in 2008, was among the seven former assemblymen dropped as candidates for the Aug 12 state polls.

At the time, Loke was reported to have said that Ramasamy and others who were dropped as candidates respected the party’s decision.

While he said he accepted the decision, Ramasamy today said he was disappointed that Loke did not inform him about it himself.

“I was Loke’s teacher, (but he has) no courtesy. At least tell me that we are going to be dropped. No problem. But he didn’t. (Instead), he sent (DAP vice-president) Nga Kor Ming to tell me,” he said.

Last month, following the announcement on the list of candidates, Ramasamy questioned whether DAP was still the same party he had joined. He cited the lack of transparency and consistency in the announcement of candidates.

He said a number of incumbents had been dropped on grounds the party wanted to rejuvenate itself. However, he noted that “many younger candidates were dropped and replaced by much older candidates”.

In today’s press conference, Ramasamy claimed that “Indians are upset with DAP” after he was dropped as a candidate, adding that other members are set to leave the party as well.

He then highlighted his stellar performance for the past 15 years as an assemblyman and insisted that his clean record meant he should not have been dropped by the party.

“I have no skeletons in my closet. Has there been any record of me being involved in corruption or wrongdoing? What legacy do I have? I don’t have a personal legacy,” he said.

“(Former Singapore prime minister) Lee Kuan Yew also didn’t want to leave a legacy. This party is not meant to be a legacy of a couple of family members only.”