DAP will make it part of party policy not to accept lawmakers jumping ship from rivals, secretary-general Anthony Loke said.

“Our position is very clear on this. We will not accept party hoppers,” Loke said during a press conference at DAP headquarters today.

He also said that former DAP members who had jumped ship and now wanted back into the party would be similarly shunned, adding that former assemblyman for Pengkalan Batu Norhizam Hassan Baktee could apply to Umno if he wanted to contest in the next election.

“His case is very clear. He hopped when DAP was down and, after losing in the state elections last year, he now wants a new platform, but we told him to forget it.

“This goes for others because there are many new and good candidates,” Loke added, referring to party members who defected after the Sheraton Move in 2020.

Meanwhile, Loke announced that the new central executive committee (CEC) has appointed five more members into the 30-strong committee: Sandakan and Jelutong MPs Vivian Wong and RSN Rayer, Bilut and Pasir Pinji assemblymen Lee Chin Chen and Howard Lee, and former Paloh assemblyman Sheikh Umar Bagharib Ali.

Loke, who took over his post from Lim Guan Eng last month, also announced new party committees: the candidature selection committee – which consists of Loke, Lim, deputy chairman Gobind Singh Deo, and vice chairmen M. Kulasegaran and Nga Kor Ming – and the disciplinary committee, led by Ngeh Koo Ham and Ramkarpal Singh.

To face the upcoming general election, Loke said Perling assemblyman Liew Chin Tong will lead the preparatory committee.

“The other committee members are Teresa Kok, Tengku Zulpuri Shah Raja Puji, V. Sivakumar, Steven Sim and Teo Nie Ching.”

Loke said he sits on the Pakatan Harapan presidential council, alongside Lim, Gobind, Nga, Kulasegaran, Sim, and Kelvin Yii.

For Parliament matters, the spokesperson will be Nga, while the DAP chief whip is Lanang MP Alice Lau. – April 14, 2022.