CARETAKER Penang deputy chief minister P. Ramasamy’s decision to quit DAP has left its secretary-general Anthony Loke disappointed.

Loke said the incumbent Perai assemblyman only dumped DAP after he was not renominated to contest the seat.

The Seremban lawmaker said this only showed that the former academic was “not sincere” after all these years.

He said the party had given Ramasamy the opportunity to serve as Penang deputy chief minister since 2008.

“Has he only been riding on the party for the sake of a position?”

“When he’s not the DAP candidate (in the state elections), he decides to leave the party. This shows that he was not sincere,” Loke was quoted as telling reporters today after a programme in Kampung Chennah, Negri Sembilan.

In a separate statement, Loke refuted a claim by Ramasamy that the secretary-general did not have the courtesy to inform him that he was being dropped.

Loke said on July 25, he and DAP national vice-chairman Nga Kor Ming met Ramasamay at the Penang DAP office to inform candidates who were not nominated to defend their seats.

“I regret his decision to lie about this. I have lost all respect for him as my former lecturer,” he said of the former Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia academic.

Ramasamy had submitted his resignation letter to Loke and Penang DAP chairman Chow Kon Yeow this morning.

“I might be called sour grapes for quitting the party, but I have no choice but to take a firm decision to chart my political course in the future,” said Ramasamy.

He said it was the right of the party to drop him and five others as candidates for the August 12 state elections, but insisted that while it is understandable that senior leaders like him were dropped, it was not so with the younger ones.

“I am 74 years old. If I’m dropped, I don’t mind, but why drop young leaders like Yeoh Soon Hin, Soon Lip Chee and M. Satees?” he was quoted as saying in news reports.

David Marshel and Satees, who are known proteges of Ramasamy, quit DAP and are contesting as Independent in Perai and Bagan Dalam respectively.

DAP is fielding S. Sundarajoo, a former chief operating officer of property developer Eco World Sdn Bhd, for the Perai seat.

Loke is defending the Chennah seat Negri Sembilan, which he won in the 2018 general election.

Loke felt Ramasamy’s decision would not impact the party’s chances in the Penang polls.

Meanwhile, Pakatan Harapan chairman Anwar Ibrahim said he would seek Ramasamy’s clarification over his resignation from DAP.

“Ramasamy is a friend. I will get his views (on his resignation),” Anwar told reporters after delivering his keynote address at the 36th Asia-Pacific Roundtable in Kuala Lumpur today.

“I hope he will continue to contribute to the Madani (economy framework).” – August 10, 2023.