Kit Siang declines 'mentor' title, to fully retire
DAP veteran Lim Kit Siang has declined his appointment as the party’s mentor.
Speaking at a dinner event hosted by DAP leaders last night, Lim (above) said he has conveyed his decision to party secretary-general Anthony Loke.
"He can expect my full support for his leadership as the sixth DAP secretary-general although I have...
DAP veteran Lim Kit Siang has declined his appointment as the party’s mentor.
Speaking at a dinner event hosted by DAP leaders last night, Lim (above) said he has conveyed his decision to party secretary-general Anthony Loke.
"He can expect my full support for his leadership as the sixth DAP secretary-general although I have no party position," he added.
Lim withdrew from the DAP central executive committee (CEC) election at the eleventh hour last month and announced that he wanted to retire from the party leadership.
The 81-year-old will also not participate in future parliamentary or state assembly polls - thereby making it clear that he will retire after six decades in politics.
Lim led DAP as secretary-general, the party's most powerful position, from 1969 until 1999. Even after, he remained the party's most recognisable face and actively comments on current affairs through written statements.
DAP’s ‘Malaysian dream’
Reflecting on his long political career, the Iskandar Puteri MP said he and the early DAP leaders were driven by a "Malaysian dream" - a belief that the country has the potential to be a great nation.
However, Lim said DAP's ideology was instead demonised and accused of being anti-Malay, anti-Islam and even communistic.
"This is the power of negative propaganda, fake news and false allegations, but unless we can find the answer to such demonisation, Malaysia will never achieve her potential to be a world-class great nation.
"DAP had never been anti any race or religion because this is contrary to our basic beliefs that Malaysia is a plural and diverse multi-racial, multi-lingual, multi-religious and multi-cultural nation.
"Half a century later, I am still waiting for that 'single instance' to show that DAP is anti-Malay, anti-Islam, and of all things, the DAP has become 'communist'," he added.
Fight for anti-hopping law
On more current affairs, Lim told his audience that DAP has been consistent in its policies, pointing to how the party had been seeking laws to prevent lawmakers from switching parties since 1978.
Lim said that following the 1969 general election, DAP won 13 parliamentary and 31 state seats. However, four of those MPs and 11 assemblypersons defected.
"That was why on March 21, 1978, I moved a private member's bill in Parliament to ban party hopping by MPs requiring the vacancy of the seat and causing a by-election to be held.
"I did not expect that we had to wait for half a century to put it on the statute books.
"This has yet to be done but it shows the consistency of the DAP to ensure the political integrity of MPs, and I am leaning to the position that this could be done by amending Article 48 of the Constitution on the disqualification of MPs," he added.
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