New DAP man turns on his party after elections

(The Star) - A former Umno man who joined DAP last year has now turned on the Opposition party, saying it had fielded too few non-Chinese members in the General Election. Aspan Alias was among those not picked to stand for the elections.

Aspan, a former Negri Sembilan Umno veteran, said DAP also had too few non-Chinese in key party positions.

“How can this be? If you say that you are fighting for multi-racialism, you must show it in terms of having Malays, Chinese and Indians well represented,” he told The Star.

Aspan joined DAP along with fellow Umno member Datuk Mohd Ariff Sabri Abdul Aziz, who had won the Raub parliamentary seat in the May 5 elections.

He said he signed up with DAP because he felt that Barisan had failed to develop national unity, but has since realised that DAP itself did not trust other races, especially the Malays.

“DAP attacks Barisan Nasional as racist, but many forget that DAP is racist, entirely,” he said.

“Now, I don't care if the party wants to sack me, because to me, a party is just a vehicle and my objective is more important.

“My objective is to achieve national unity,” he added.

Increasingly vocal in criticising both Pakatan Rakyat as well as Barisan Nasional in his recent blog entries (http://aspanaliasnet.blogspot.com/), Aspan said that he decided to speak up as he was worried about racial harmony in the country.

“Many people do not understand what nationhood is because to them it is just about a political struggle in order to win positions, so we need a new approach in order to bring a fresh start to the nation,” he said.

Aspan said that a national dialogue should be organised among all groups in society to foster national unity and to find a new approach in order for the country to move forward.

He suggested that Gua Musang MP Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah be invited to lead such a national dialogue as he was widely considered as a political figure who understands the issue intimately, as he had experience living through many tumultuous periods in Malaysia's history.

Meanwhile, DAP national organising secretary and the Negri Sembilan party chief Anthony Loke said that Aspan was merely disappointed that he was not picked to contest in the elections.

He also dismissed Aspan's claims, calling him “unimportant”.

“He is just an ordinary member. He can say what he wants. The party leadership will respond when necessary,” he said.

The party's disciplinary committee chief and national deputy chairman Tan Kok Wai also said that he will study Aspan's comments before deciding on any action.