A DAP assemblyperson is amused by MIC Youth Chief Sivarraajh Chandran's remarks over the appointment of Penang DAP Secretary, Lim Hui Ying (above), as a senator.

Hui Ying, whose appointment was announced on Aug 10, is the daughter of DAP supremo Lim Kit Siang and sister of DAP secretary-general cum Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng.

Bagan Dalam assemblyperson Satees Muniandy said Sivarraajh had no moral right to question the DAP as the MIC had been embroiled in "ugly cronyism and caste politics" in the past decades.

"MIC members themselves cried foul of cronyism where some candidates, favoured by certain leaders and belonging to a particular caste, were parachuted in to contest certain seats and lost badly," said the DAP Batu Kawan secretary and former Seberang Perai Municipal councillor in a statement.

Sivarraajh was quoted in The Star on Wednesday as saying the "move to appoint a family member to an important post will cultivate the practice of nepotism among politicians".

Saying that the move could be seen as an expansion of the "Lim Dynasty", the Cameron Highlands MP said such an appointment could result in a conflict of interest in the decision-making process at the expense of the people.

Satees said Hui Ying was not a stranger to Penang DAP members as she had been the party's campaign director for the past two general elections.

"Hui Ying also contested and won in state DAP conventions to become Penang DAP Secretary. She was not selected by certain leaders or had won uncontested," he said, adding she was chosen based on merit and her contributions to the party.

Satees also said: "If electing Hui Ying, who worked so hard for the party is regarded as nepotism, what would Sivarraajh call the appointment of S Vell Paari, the son of party president S Samy Vellu, as the treasurer-general of MIC?"

Satees further pointed out that Hui Ying was appointed as a senator by the Penang legislative assembly.

He said it was the Penang DAP which proposed Hui Ying’s name to be considered by the Penang legislative assembly and the members unanimously voted for her and former PKR Balik Pulau MP Yusmadi Yusoff to be appointed senators.

"It was not a process like the MIC's selection of candidates. Sivarraajh should focus on his own party which is plagued by caste politics since the time of Samy Vellu," he said.