PN: DAP ministers should speak up on Beng Hock NFA even if they won't quit

Summary

• Perikatan Nasional MPs say DAP needs to speak up on the NFA granted in the Teoh Beng Hock case even if its ministers won’t quit.

• This comes after the Teoh Beng Hock Association for Democratic Advancement urged the five DAP ministers to resign in protest over the party's failure to deliver justice over the aide’s death.

Opposition MPs said that DAP needs to speak up on the “no further action” (NFA) classification in the Teoh Beng Hock case, even if the party’s ministers do not respond to calls to resign.

PAS information chief Ahmad Fadhli Shaari said he was confident that the DAP ministers would not resign over the matter, despite being urged to do so by the Teoh Beng Hock Association for Democratic Advancement.

“I have no comments on whether they should or should not resign.

“But in my opinion, they need to respond and not stay silent,” he told Malaysiakini.

No further action

On Sunday (May 25), the association called for DAP's five ministers - Anthony Loke, Gobind Singh Deo, Nga Kor Ming, Steven Sim and Hannah Yeoh - to resign as a form of protest over the Attorney-General’s Chambers classifying Teoh’s death as NFA.

Association chairperson Ng Yap Hwa said the five should take responsibility on the party’s behalf for failing to fulfil promises to seek justice for Teoh.

Last Thursday (May 22), lawyer Ramkarpal Singh, who is also a DAP MP and Gobind’s brother, questioned the AGC’s decision, highlighting that it had failed to inform Teoh’s family directly, with the matter instead being relayed by the police.

Bukit Aman’s Criminal Investigation Department had written to Ramkarpal on May 20 to inform him of the AGC’s decision, which police said was determined on May 19.

Betrayal

Commenting further, Fadhli condemned DAP’s silence on the matter, calling it a betrayal of the party’s principles of transparency and justice.

The Pasir Mas MP noted the irony in how the ministers now sit alongside individuals they previously labelled as “destroyers of the nation”.

“DAP, which was once vocal in accusing the BN government of being kleptocratic and inhumane over Teoh’s tragic death, now seems comfortable being part of the very system they once opposed.

“If they are willing to compromise with groups linked to corruption and abuse for the sake of power, what does the Teoh case really mean to them?

“The life of a political aide is apparently not too high a price to pay in exchange for a ministerial or deputy ministerial position,” he said.

‘Valid’ calls for resignation

Machang MP Wan Ahmad Fayhsal Wan Ahmad Kamal said that the association’s calls for resignations are “quite valid”.

“I can understand the grievances,” the Bersatu supreme council member said.

He described DAP as having made a Faustian bargain, exchanging the party’s ideals for power.

“Teoh was just a mere pawn, a stepping stone for DAP,” he added.

Similarly, Fadhli said the Teoh case was just one piece of proof as to how DAP had betrayed its supporters.

He also attributed the party’s apparent failure in the case to a lust for power.

“DAP is no longer fighting - they have become what they once opposed,” he said.

Unlawful acts

In 2009, Teoh, an aide to then Seri Kembangan assemblyperson Ean Yong Hian Wah, was found dead after overnight questioning at Selangor MACC, headquartered at Plaza Masalam in Shah Alam back then.

A 2011 Royal Commission of Inquiry ruled he was driven to suicide due to aggressive interrogation, but a Court of Appeal decision in 2014 ruled his death was caused or accelerated by unlawful acts, including those of MACC officers.

On Nov 21 last year, the Kuala Lumpur High Court ordered the police to complete the investigation into Teoh’s death within six months after appeals court judge Wan Ahmad Farid Wan Salleh allowed his parents’ judicial review application.

During Pakatan Harapan’s first stint in Putrajaya under then-prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s leadership, the cabinet had agreed to reopen investigations into Teoh’s death.

Before the case was reopened, two special investigation teams were formed in 2011 and again in 2015. However, both probes were similarly classified as NFA.

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