KUALA LUMPUR: The DAP has found itself in turbulent air even before it starts campaigning for the 15th General Election, with one outspoken member of parliament (MP) throwing in the towel and another veteran said to be fighting to contest in the constituency he won comfortably for three terms.
This comes in the wake of DAP veteran Ronnie Liu, who said that he planned to quit earlier this month, but later decided to put the plan on hold.
On Thursday, DAP's Batu Kawan member of parliament Kasthuri Patto announced that she would not contest in GE15 to make way for future leaders.
She said it was the hardest decision for her, but she wanted to step down gracefully.
Kasthuri said the party leadership had persuaded her to rethink her decision, but she had decided to stick to it.
She denied being forced to give up the seat, saying that critics were being unfair by questioning her commitment.
The daughter of the late P. Patto, who was a party stalwart in the 1970s and 80s, also reiterated that her decision to opt out had nothing to do with 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 Parliament. You can check whether I have used the allocation given to my constituency in the best way I can within the stipulated period.
"So these are quite unfair statements," she said when asked to comment on talk of her being moved due to non-performance.
"Where is all this coming from? There is no news whether I am going to be replaced or not," said the 43-year-old two-term Batu Kawan MP.
"I am stepping down on my own accord. I am stepping down and my decision is final. I thank the party for giving me the platform to contest," she added.
In GE14, Kasthuri managed to defend the Batu Kawan seat with a 33,553-vote majority, a marked increase from 25,962 votes in the GE13.
Meanwhile, the other DAP MP who had to fend off questions about being dropped or moved to another seat is three-term former Klang MP Charles Santiago.
Santiago said he was puzzled over such reports as the party's selection committee had yet to meet.
"I find this a bit strange because the five-member panel has not even met. So, where is this rumour coming from?" he said.
The committee comprised national chairman Lim Guan Eng, deputy chairman Gobind Singh Deo, vice-presidents M. Kulasegaran and Nga Kor Ming, and secretary-general Anthony Loke.
Santiago said there might be a group manufacturing the rumour about his name being dropped.
"Negative people with lots of money and vested interest are the ones pushing this agenda.
"So far, I hear nothing about my name being dropped. When I met Gobind that day, he said the committee has not made the decision. Maybe the people are envious of our performance, so everybody wants to have a chunk of the cake. That's all," he said.
On whether he would defend the seat, Santiago said: "Yes."
On Wednesday, a news report stated that Santiago's name might not be in the party's final line-up, and he would be replaced by Kota Kemuning assemblyman V. Ganabatirau.
Liu said he felt sorry if Santiago was not included in the list of candidates.
"I can only say that I feel sorry for him because he has been truthful in his comments and opinion. I do not know why and I have no idea what is going on.
"To me, that's his strength, but unfortunately, it was not acceptable to some. That's all I can share."
Santiago won the Klang seat in GE14 with a 78,773-vote majority against Khairul Shah Abdullah (Pas) and G. Puvananderan (independent).
On Tuesday, Loke said the party would announce its list of candidates in stages next week.
Nusantara Academy for Strategic Research senior fellow Azmi Hassan said he believed that there were problems within the party in choosing the right candidate for the right constituency.
"The turmoil is inevitable and from Kasthuri's press conference, we can read that there is an internal problem within DAP, hence she refused to defend her seat.
"Some groups in the party do not want her to defend her seat. The pressure was too much for her and she decided to quit.
"The same goes with Santiago. The rumour is that he may not be in the final line-up for GE15, although a decision has not been made yet. It is obvious there are groups in Selangor DAP that want somebody else to contest the seat," he said.
Political analyst Dr Ainul Adzellie Hasnul said DAP might be following Barisan Nasional in introducing new candidates.
He said talk about DAP not fielding some heavyweights could be seen as a breath of fresh air to the party's line-up.
"This time around, they will have more younger candidates and it is also a way of them saying that they are listening to the people, and this is how they win the people's support," he said. -Additional reporting by Qistina Sallehuddin