LIM Kit Siang today accused Lee Lam Thye of lying in his autobiography, in which the author claims that he had quit politics on the eve of the 1990 general election because he had been betrayed by his party colleagues.

“He blamed me (who was) DAP secretary-general in 1990, and some party colleagues for stabbing him in the back and (this had) led to his resignation on September 29, 1990,” said Lim in a statement.

“Lee said he was informed by the party leadership that he would be removed from the Bukit Bintang constituency which he had served for four terms.”

“But this is a big lie for I had never told Lee that he would not be contesting the Bukit Bintang constituency, and the thought of him contesting in any seat apart from Bukit Bintang had never occurred to me before the 1990 general  election. 

Lim said it is regrettable Lee has seen fit to lie in his memoirs.

Lim said although they had their differences, he had always regarded Lee’s approach as “complementary”, saying “DAP is what it is today because of the sum total of our different political styles”.

“I had my first discussion and meeting with him on September 19, where he told me that he had no intention of withdrawing his resignation as the Federal Territories DAP chairman, and also that he was going to announce his retirement from politics.

“The next 10 days were agonising days for him as well as for me. I had four meetings with him to try to persuade him to change his mind, not only to resume the chairmanship of Federal Territories DAP, but also to continue to provide his political leadership and services.”

Lim said until today, he does not know why Lee decided to quit politics.

Lee’s retirement from politics came in the turbulent month of September 1990, when 10,000 people demonstrated against the Cheras tolls issue, said Lim. 

He added that Tan Kok Wai, the DAP MP for Cheras, had been detained under the Internal Security Act.

Lee announced he was quitting a week before parliament was dissolved to pave the way for the October 21, 1990 general election. – June 18, 2022.