DAP's absence from Harapan's Tebrau ceramah raises eyebrows

The conspicuous absence of DAP leaders in promotional material for a Pakatan Harapan-organised ceramah in Johor Bahru has raised eyebrows.

The ceramah is scheduled for tomorrow night at the Pasar Khamis Sungai Tiram, which falls under the Tebrau parliamentary constituency.

According to promotional material for the event, listed speakers are from PKR, Amanah and Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu) only.

This includes PKR vice-president Nurul Izzah Anwar, Amanah deputy president Salahuddin Ayub and Bersatu deputy president Mukhriz Mahathir.

This follows protests by PKR over DAP's intentions to lobby Pakatan Harapan to allow the party to be fielded in one of the three parliamentary constituencies in the greater Johor Bahru area – Johor Bahru, Tebrau and Pasir Gudang.

During the last general election, the rights to contest in these three seats were given to PKR by the defunct Pakatan Rakyat coalition.

When contacted, Tebrau PKR chief Steven Choong (photo) denied suggestions that DAP's absence from the speakers' list had anything to do with opposition to DAP's ambitions.

"No, no, absolutely no," Choong said when contacted.

DAP did not attend meetings

He said that Tebrau DAP did not participate in the preparation meetings for the event and therefore none of their leaders were invited.

"Since (Tebrau) Pakatan Harapan was formed in May, we have asked DAP to send representatives, but they did not. They even missed the preparation meeting...

"Our working style is respective parties will invite speakers from their own parties, but DAP did not attend the meeting," Choong said.

He added that he has been trying to reach out to his DAP colleagues about this.

A Johor DAP leader, who requested anonymity, said Choong's explanation did not make sense.

"The organisers can invite anyone. Normally, the organisers would contact DAP national or state leaders directly. There's no need to go through division leaders," he said.

Asked whether DAP would dispatch a leader for the event anyway, the DAP leader said the party was taking a "wait and see" approach.- Mkini