Karpal : Don’t forget the veterans

The DAP national chairman kicked off the party's national congress by reminding delegates the contributions of veteran leaders.

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PENANG: DAP national chairman Karpal Singh today told party members to value the contributions and scarifices of  veteran leaders, amidst rumours of an attempt to unseat him at the party polls this afternoon.

Opening the 16th DAP National Congress this morning, he said he has been with the party for 42 years but always respected the senior leaders , such as the current life advisor Chen Man Hin, advisor Lim Kit Siang and the late deputy chairman P. Patto.

“Don’t forget the veterans. If not for the veterans, you will not be who you are. Don’t underestimate the power of the veterans,” he told some 2500 white-clad delegates at the 16th DAP National Congress this morning.

In an earlier interview with FMT Karpal shrugged off a report about an attempt to unseat him at the party election this weekend, saying it was probably untrue.

“I don’t think there is an attempt to remove me.In any event  leave it to the delegates to decide.” he said.

Karpal, 72, is known for his frankness in addressing political issues. Lately, he has been ruffling feathers in Pakatan Rakyat, with his reprimand of PAS for insisting on its Islamic state agenda and his call on the public to highlight the wrongdoings of Pakatan state governments.

His one-man-one seat policy was also not well received.

There were also media reports earlier this week that the Perak DAP faction led by Ngeh Koo Ham and Nga Kor Ming would vote  against Karpal due to support of Ngeh-Ngah’s rival – DAP vice chairman M. Kulasegaran.

Meanwhile, the Bukit Gelugor MP also declared that DAP will back PKR de facto leader Anwar Ibrahim to be the prime minister should Pakatan Rakyat captures Putrajaya in the coming elections.

While for PAS, he praised the Islamic party for being a “solid, principled party” despite certain Islamic policies that he may not agree with.

“PAS is an important ally in Pakatan. We may have differences with PAS but it is a solid, principled party,” he said.

Karpal also urged party members to seize “perhaps the only opportunity” to topple BN in the upcoming general election.

“We must not lose sight on the enemy, we must win the battle,” he declared.