A crisis in the Selangor DAP looks unlikely to be resolved tonight as state chairperson M Manoharan would not be attending a national level meeting to discuss his decision last week to remove eight state leaders from their posts.

Manoharan, a lawyer, said he would not be able to attend the meeting in Petaling Jaya this evening as he is held up in Johor o­n a court case.

"I have a case in Johor and the notice given for the meeting was too short. I have written a letter to party secretary-general Kerk Kim Hock outlining my reasons for not attending the meeting tonight," he said when contacted.

On Saturday, Manoharan surprised his own party leaders with his announcement to sack eight office-bearers from the Selangor state committee o­n grounds of their frequent absence from meetings.

Those relieved of their posts are state secretary Ronnie Liu, organising secretary Jack Wong, deputy chair Tee Boon Hock, vice chairperson o­ng Ing Siong, publicity secretary William Thye, treasurer Alex Yim, assistant treasurer Ang Leng Kiat and women affairs secretary Madeline Chang.

Following a complaint by the eight, Kerk summoned Manoharan, Liu and Wong to attend a central executive committee meeting this evening to resolve the matter.

Constructive move

Defending his decision to go public with his announcement without informing party leaders, Manoharan said he was not obliged to inform others first of his decision.

"I decided to publicise the matter to inform grassroots members (of the development). By going public, I am actually strengthening the party by showing that I am ready to clean up my committee.

"I am telling the public that less effective team members should not be there and I am also telling the public that Selangor DAP is looking for good leaders," he stressed.

The state chairperson dismissed claims by the sacked office-bearers that they had not been informed of the meeting dates, saying that the eight had been notified via letters, SMS notices and telephone calls.

"It is utter rubbish by the gang of eight. All of them had been informed via the three modes. This (absence at meetings) had been going o­n before my time. But I do not want these practices to continue during my term," he said.

Toe the line

Manoharan, who was elevated to the position of state chairperson after the passing of former chair Ahmad Nor in February, said he hoped his decision would be upheld by the party CEC as he had "strong grounds" for the removal of the eight office-bearers.

"There is no reason for the CEC to overturn my decision. I have very strong grounds for doing so...I have nothing against (the eight members) but I have to do my job. I do not o­nly want nice guys but also hardworking people who can deliver."

However, he added that should it turn out otherwise, he would accept the CEC's decision. "If they overturn the decision, I would accept it and toe the line but I would be very disappointed."

Fresh complaints pending

Meanwhile, Liu who was among the eight relieved of their posts said he was "very confident" that he would be reinstated to his position as state secretary.

"The sacking was technically and morally wrong. There is such clause (requiring attendance of state committee meetings) in the party constitution, but I was never informed of the meetings, " he stressed.

Liu said the sacked office-bearers are considering now whether to file a complaint against Manoharan for making public an internal party dispute.

"The secretary-general said all disputes should be resolved within the party. No o­ne should make public their problems but by holding a press conference to announce our sacking, Manoharan had made an unilateral decision to make public a dispute," he said.

However, he added that the matter should be resolved tonight "if everyone behaves like gentlemen".

The latest dispute among the state leaders has become the strongest indication yet that the rivalry between the two sides is likely to deepen in the run up to the party's state-level election this year.

A similar dispute over state posts broke out last March when a group of state leaders, led by Manoharan decided to appoint new leaders to several key posts following an internal quarrel.

However, the results of the election were nullified by the party central leadership o­n grounds that the appointment had not followed party procedures.

Renegade branch?

When contacted, Kerk declined to reveal his thoughts o­n the matter, saying o­nly that he would not speculate o­n the points of the dispute before the party's CEC meeting tonight.

"We will act according to the principle of fairness in the best interest of the party...I have said that we have to resolve this issue quickly. Otherwise, we would not even need the Barisan Nasional to destroy our party - we would destroy ourselves," he said.

Kerk admitted to having some problems with the Selangor state committee which had, in more than o­ne instance, made decisions without consulting the national leadership.

"Normally, the state leaders would talk to us before making an announcement. However, the Selangor leaders do not always do this.

"The Selangor branch has been quite ineffective for a while. It is worse now with all these problems which could demoralise the party further," he added.

He said, however, that the party is committed to solving all such problems to prepare for upcoming general election.

"We have sent out instructions to all branches that they should be ready for general election to take place any time after Nov 25, which is just after Hari Raya Puasa. We do not want to be caught off-guard," he added.