Sim Tong Him has 24 hours to withdraw or else he would have to bear full responsibility for BN winning both Kota Laksamana state seat and Kota Melaka parliamentary seat

DAP Parliamentary candidate for Sim Tong Him has 24 hours to withdraw and fully support DAP candidate for Kota Laksamana Lai Keun Ban or else he would have to bear full responsibility for BN winning both Kota Laksamana state seat and Kota Melaka parliamentary seat. DAP national leadership have received many queries on how to vote following Sim’s shocking decision to contest for Kota Melaka parliament under DAP ticket but contest Kota Laksamana state seat as an independent. Sim is using one leg to step on two different boats at the same time.

Many are offended by this act of dishonesty by Sim in cheating the party to give him the letter of authority to contest in the Kota Melaka parliamentary seat but yet not inform the DAP national leadership that he intends to contest in the Kota Laksamana state seat as an independent. If I had known that Sim had intended to contest the Kota Laksamana state seat as an independent, I would not have signed the letter of authority as DAP Secretary-General appointing Sim as the DAP candidate to contest as the Kota Melaka parliamentary candidate.

Sim is also arrogant as in his ceramah at the DAP Melaka Lorong Pandan headquarters last night his slogan for this coming general elections is Sim=DAP and DAP = Sim. I wish to warn Sim that no one person is bigger than the party. Even I as DAP Secretary-General has never said that Lim Guan Eng = DAP and DAP=Lim Guan Eng. Sim now is not even a member of the DAP Central Executive Committee(CEC), our highest decision-making body.

Party interest must always be placed ahead of personal interest. Sim’s grievous mistake is his delusion that he is bigger than DAP. Unfortunately such delusion by Sim has caused great damage to DAP to the extent of endangering both Kota Melaka parliamentary and Kota Laksamana state seats. Several of my friends in Melaka, especially Malays, wonder whether Sim has been bought over and remind me that DAP will not get any Malay votes in Kota Melaka if Sim can not prove his public integrity. Malay voters will flock back to BN if they think that the PR candidate has been “compromised”.

I urge Sim to come back to his senses and abandon his Sim=DAP and DAP=Sim election slogan. Sim has one final opportunity to work hard to regain Kota Melaka and restore his integrity by publicly withdrawing from contesting the Kota Laksamana state seat.

Sim’s failure to honour his agreement with Sdr Lim Kit Siang that Lai be the DAP Kota Laksamana candidate has embarrassed Sdr Lim Kit Siang unnecessarily at a crucial moment when Lim Kit Siang is fighting for his political life in Gelang Patah. None of the DAP national leaders were informed or received any missed calls from Sim that he intended to contest Kota Laksamana as an independent candidate. The party feels sad that at a time when every leader is fighting hard against BN’s dirty tactics to deny DAP the use of the Rocket symbol, Sim has taken the decision to fight against his own party symbol.

I urge Kota Laksamana voters to continue to support the Rocket symbol of the DAP. As for DAP supporters in Kota Melaka, the DAP leadership shall be awaiting the final decision by Sim before making any further announcements.