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GE15: DAP's Kasthuri Patto says it is all vicious rumours and critics were being unfair to her

GEORGE TOWN: DAP's Kasthuri Patto - who announced that she will not be running in the next general election (GE15), said critics were being unfair to her by saying that she had failed to give her all when representing her Batu Kawan constituents.

The daughter of the late P Patto, who was a party strongman in the 1970s and 80s, also reiterated that her decision to opt out of GE15 had nothing to do with talks of her being dropped by the DAP leadership or her being moved to another constituency.

"It is the party which decides who goes where and I made the decision (not to contest in GE15) on my own accord.

"I think my work on the ground speaks for itself and I believe I have also performed (well) in the parliament. You can check that I have used the allocation given to my constituency in the best way I can within the stipulated period.

"So these are by far, quite unfair statements," she said when asked to comment on talk that of her non-performance as an elected representative had led to rumours that the DAP leadership was mulling to move her to another constituency.

The 43-year old two-term Batu Kawan MP said these were all vicious rumours and talk about her being replaced was not true.

"Where is all this coming from? There is no news whether I am going to be replaced or not.

"I am stepping down on my own accord. My decision is I am stepping down and my decision is final. I thank the party for giving me the platform to contest," she added.

In the 14th general election, Kasthuri managed to defend the Batu Kawan with a 33,553-vote majority, a marked increase from 25,962 votes in the 13th general election.

Kasthuri announced on Thursday that she would not be defending the Batu Kawan seat in GE15 to make way for future leaders.

She said it was the hardest decision for her to make but she wanted to step down gracefully and not contest in GE15.

Kasthuri said that the party leadership had persuaded her to rethink her decision but she decided to stick to it after much thought.

It is learnt that to candidate tipped to replace her in the seat is Batu Kawan division secretary David Marshel, who declined to comment when asked about him being in the running to replace Kasthuri.

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