Johor DAP deputy chief Teo Nie Ching said fellow Johor DAP central committee member Boo Cheng Hau had made "baseless" allegations against Johor DAP chief Liew Chin Tong.
In a statement today, Teo said Johor Harapan's leadership was eyeing one of two senator positions reserved for Johor that has been vacant since 2020.
"Johor Pakatan Harapan nominated a candidate in November 2020 and decided to explore again in August 2021. On both occasions, the state government did not agree to open for nomination, hence the position remains vacant until this day.
"In the process of exploration, the DAP National Candidature Committee agreed that in the event of the vacancy being opened for nomination, DAP would nominate its Johor chairperson to the position, subject to the consent of our Harapan allies.
"Nomination for candidates in DAP is decided by the National Candidature Committee, not by the state committees. Boo, who used to be the Johor DAP chairperson, should know this process well," she said.
Therefore, said Teo, discussions on possibly nominating Liew had nothing to do with the confidence and supply agreement (CSA) between Harapan and Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob at the federal level.
"Boo should not make baseless allegations with the intention of casting doubts on the credibility of DAP leaders, including Liew and the unnamed 'former ministers and deputy ministers'.
"The Johor DAP party election is over. All leaders and members must now unite to fight the upcoming state election and national general election. The challenges ahead of us are daunting, and we don't need such distractions," said Teo.
She was responding to a statement by Boo earlier today who urged Harapan's national leadership to investigate Liew for allegedly lobbying to be made a senator through the Johor legislative assembly.
'Selective' revelations
Boo had urged Harapan's leadership to investigate if the alleged lobbying efforts were related to the CSA.
There are currently 54 members in the Dewan Negara. Each state legislative assembly can nominate two members. The rest are appointed by the Yang di-Pertuan Agong, on the advice of the prime minister.
Additionally, Boo also urged Harapan's leadership to investigate Liew for organising a series of online discussions involving MPs, former ministers, deputy ministers and Johor DAP grassroots members.
Boo alleged that during those meetings, Harapan figures from other states had castigated Harapan chairperson Anwar Ibrahim.
On this, Teo said Johor DAP leaders meet grassroots members about every month, and one such meeting was held on Aug 16, after Muhyiddin Yassin stepped down as prime minister.
"When members asked if Anwar was going to have the numbers to be the next prime minister, leaders shared their candid and frank views behind closed doors that Anwar didn't have the numbers.
"The Johor DAP leadership sees the need to be truthful and frank with members, especially in a closed-door setting," she said.
In view of this, Teo said it was regrettable that Boo was selective in his revelations and had thus defamed Liew and cast aspersions on "former ministers and deputy ministers" who participated in those discussions.
"Boo is doing this at a time when there is a real threat of a snap state election in Johor," she said. - Mkini
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