Boo hits back at DAP, denies not being a 'team player'

GE14 | Johor DAP veteran Dr Boo Cheng Hau has denied not being a "team player," calling such allegations are malicious.

Speaking at a press conference that was broadcast live on his Facebook page today, Boo said his record as the former Johor DAP chief shows otherwise.

“How am I supposed to lead Johor DAP if I wasn’t a team player?

“When I was voted state chief in 2005, there were only 25 party branches in Johor. When I vacated the post in 2014, there were 104 branches. About 70 to 80 of these are active.

“This shows that I had actually led (Johor DAP) and that I am a team player,” he said.

Boo added that the allegation of him not being a team player only emerged following the last general election, and fingered several prominent party leaders as among those making the allegation against him.

The incumbent Skudai assemblyperson was speaking to reporters following DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng's announcement yesterday that Boo's protégé, Tang Hong Pin, would be replacing him in the seat.

Boo had previously rejected an offer to contest in the parliamentary seat of Labis, insisting that he should defend Skudai.

'If you are not part of the team, then you cannot contribute'

Prior to the announcement, Lim also spoke on the importance of teamwork and used Johor DAP chief Liew Ching Tong as an example.

Liew is the incumbent Kluang MP and is slated to contest in the Ayer Hitamparliamentary constituency.

“Liew represents the spirit of DAP fighting the hard fight in Ayer Itam… We need leaders to join in on this effort. I have always stressed that no one could stand alone, that one person cannot achieve anything. You need a team.

“If you are not part of the team, then you cannot contribute, and you cannot ensure that we will complete our mission," Lim stressed. 

“Penang’s stellar performance over the past ten years is not because of Lim Guan Eng, but is instead a team effort. The same applies if we want to take over the federal and Johor governments – you cannot rely on one person, but the team.

“Only with collective decisions, collective responsibility, that we can succeed. If we have 11 people to a football team while the opponent only has one person, who do you think would win even if it is the (Barcelona) football star Lionel Messi?” he said, without naming Boo.

At today's press conference, Boo drew football analogies of his own, saying that not everyone can be strikers to score goals for the party. A good football team, he said, needs to be able to both attack and defend.

He said the Gelang Patah DAP grassroots had passed resolutions twice urging the party central leadership to allow Boo to stay in Skudai while DAP supremo Lim Kit Siang stays in Gelang Patah.

This was because both were relatively safe seats and would afford the two leaders more time to campaign for other DAP candidates elsewhere.

Skudai is a part of the Gelang Patah parliamentary constituency (now Iskandar Puteri). 

Boo also warned against last-minute changes in the party’s candidate lineup, saying that this could expose it to attacks. - Mkini