Phantom voters claim baseless, Loke says after DAP ruckus

 

All DAP leadership elections are always conducted transparently, without favouring any individual, and claims that 'phantom voters' were part of the Perak DAP state election are completely baseless, the party's national organising secretary Anthony Loke (above) said.

"I feel very sorry about the commotion that took place during the Perak DAP state election yesterday. Things like this should not happen in any DAP party conference.

"I would like to emphasise that all DAP party leadership election processes at all levels are always conducted transparently, without favouring any individual.

"Therefore, the allegation regarding 'phantoms voters' is completely baseless," Loke said in a statement today.

He was echoing DAP Youth deputy chief Chiong Yoke Kong - who was assigned by the national leadership to oversee the state party election - who said yesterday that the allegations made by the camp of DAP vice-chairperson M Kulasegaran and his running-mate Thomas Su were baseless.

The Kula-Su camp accused the committee handling the election of still calling for delegates to attend the convention, even after registration had closed.

They pointed out that several delegates were seen wearing handwritten name tags, as opposed to the computer-generated identification.

Chiong Yoke Kong

Chiong, however, told Malaysiakini that handwritten name tags were merely used for technical reasons, to replace name tags that were wrongly printed.

Some of the camp's supporters also shouted "phantom votes" during a commotion while the election was underway.

Loke said the list of delegates for the state convention was confirmed by the organisation division at the DAP headquarters.

He added that the election managers for the state conventions are appointed by the DAP headquarters and is usually a leader from another state who has no interest in the election process in that state.

Chiong is the state assemblyperson for Tanah Rata in Pahang.

"Each representative who is eligible to attend the state convention is entitled to vote as long as the voting process has not been closed by the returning officer.

"Before representatives get their ballot paper, their identity card will be checked and the details verified according to the list of delegates," Loke said.

All state committees responsible for managing logistics for the state convention are also required to comply with all procedures established by the national organisation division, he added.

"I call on every party member to respect the party election process and accept any election decision with an open heart. Every DAP member must also always uphold the party constitution, which is the basis of the party's journey and function," added Loke who is the party's Seremban MP.

Kulasegaran and Su were challenging cousins Nga Kor Ming and Ngeh Khoo Ham for the Perak DAP leadership.

However, the Nga-Ngeh camp made a clean sweep in the polls, with Kulasegaran and Su trailing far behind. - Mkini