Last-minute campaign ahead of tomorrow's polls

After campaigning long and hard in the shadows, DAP national central committee member Teng Chang Khim finally emerged to unveil his running mates for tomorrow's central committee elections at a dinner last night.

Now known as the Rainbow Coalition, the 12-member team includes two elected representatives - Teng, who is the Sungai Pinang state assemblyperson, and Sekinchan state assemblyperson Ng Suee Lim.

The remaining 10 on the list are a mix of veteran grassroots leaders and relative unknowns: Tan Tuan Tat, T Kannan, S Ramakrishnan, Lee Ah Seng, Lee Fu Hao, M Batumalai, Michael Sun, Tan Boon Wah, Ho Foor Keong and Lim Soon Hong.

Their rivals, led by Selangor senior exco Teresa Kok, is dubbed the Unity Team and are better known in public as they are mostly made up of state assemblypersons and parliamentarians.

The Rainbow Coalition is among 50 candidates contesting for the 15 state central committee posts.

Although the Rainbow Coalition has only 12 candidates, it is endorsing Subang Jaya state assemblyperson Hannah Yeoh, Teratai state assemblyperson Jenice Lee and Klang MP Charles Santiago because they are deemed "independent".

The search for 'true unity'

For the first time, Teng officially unveiled his 12-member team at a dinner function in Klang last night and delivered an impassioned speech, urging delegates to endorse his entire team.

With his trademark charisma and wit, Teng said that there was no point in voting for him to be a sole dissident in the committee as he had been over the past few years.

"Don’t elect me if you don't elect my team. I don't want to be a lone ranger anymore," said Teng.

He also urged delegates and supporters to "forgive and forget” - forgive their rivals who have been attacking them relentlessly over the past few weeks and forget that it ever happened.

He said this was important in order for the party to be united and ready to face the next general elections.

Offering his unity plan, Teng said that if all 12 of the Rainbow Coalition candidates and three endorsed 'independents' make the cut, three serving DAP exco members and three of the party's MPs from Selangor would be coopted into the state committee.

The three exco members are Ronnie Liu, Teresa Kok and Ean Yong Hian Wah while the other MPs are Tony Pua, Teo Nie Ching and Gobind Singh Deo. All six are part of the Unity Team led by Kok.

"They don't want us, but we want them. We want true unity, not just empty talk," said Teng.

Ronnie Liu joins Unity Team

Meanwhile, Liu officially announced his membership in the Unity Team last night during its dinner function in Petaling Jaya.

When approached by reporters, Liu said that he had avoided publicly declaring his allegiance so as not to invite attacks from his opponents.

"They think that the Unity Team is avoiding me. As you can see over the past week, they have been attacking me less. This makes it easier for me to campaign.

"Maybe from tomorrow onwards, they will start attacking me again," quipped Liu.

Liu is dubbed by many party members as a controversy magnet with the latest incident involving the sacking of his one-time aide Tee Boon Hock from the party.

Tee's supporters claim that Liu was instrumental in the sacking and are now siding with the Rainbow Coalition in the hope of ultimately getting reinstated in the party.

Surprisingly, Liu was given a warm welcome by the dinner participants when he was asked to give a short speech on stage. But instead of delivering a personal campaign speech, Liu urged the delegates to support the Unity Team.

In particular, Liu urged delegates to vote for Gobind, Kok and V Ganabatirau, who are not part of the current state lineup.

During the function, it was revealed that the Unity Team has expanded from its original 15 candidates to 22.

A total of 1,100 delegates from 145 branches will be casting their ballots during tomorrow's polls to be held at the Sunway Convention Centre.

Reporting by Lee Way Loon and Lee Long Hui