GEORGE TOWN: ‘The People's Alternative Party (PAP) will never win a single seat (in the 14th general election).’
This was the reaction by its former president, Zulkifli Mohd Noor, soon after announcing his resignation and departure from the party, along with nine other central executive committee (CEC) members, effective last Saturday.
Zulkifli, who led PAP, a DAP splinter party since 2015, said simultaneously, all 25 of the party's candidates, who are supposed to be fielded in Penang in the coming polls, would withdraw from the race.
He said the decision was made after the party's secretary-general, A. David Dass, decided to form a new CEC and lodged a complaint with the Registrar of Societies (RoS) over infighting among members.
"So, officially, all of us decided to relinquish our CEC posts and leave the party following a crisis in the party's re-election last Saturday at Kelab PJ in Petaling Jaya.
"We found non-adherence to the party's constitution when the CEC re-election was only led by one single race," he told a press conference at Wisma PAP here today.
It is learnt that David, who was expelled as the party's secretary-general in 2016, lodged a complaint with RoS after claiming that his expulsion was invalid, prompting a re-election last Saturday.
However, during his presidential speech, Zulkifli announced his resignation along with nine other CEC members following dissatisfaction with David's move.
Elaborating, Zulkifli said PAP no longer stood any chance in the coming election after the party was monopolised by just one race.
"There is not a single parliamentary or state seat which is Indian-majority, hence there is no way PAP's candidate can win," he added.
He stressed that he and other former party leaders have yet to decide on whether they will contest in the polls.
He however did not discount the possibility that some may contest as independent candidates.