TWO-time Batu Kawan MP Kasthuri Patto today announced she will not contest in the upcoming general election (GE). 

Kasthuri said among the reasons she decided against contesting was to pave way for future leaders to lead the party and country.

“I am stepping down gracefully and not contesting in the coming elections to make way for future leaders in DAP and Malaysia,” she said.

Kasthuri, 43, the daughter of DAP strongman Patto Perumal, made her parliamentary debut in 2013, winning the Batu Kawan seat with a majority of 25,962 votes. 

She went on to retain the seat in the 2018 GE with a majority of 33,553 votes.

Kasthuri dismissed speculations that she was dropped from the list of party candidates for the GE and claimed the decision was solely hers. 

“The party leadership has persuaded me to rethink my decision but after much thought, I will stick to my decision and have received full support and blessing from the party leadership, which I truly treasure.  

“There have been rumours that I have been dropped but this is not the case as I am stepping down on my own accord and account,” she said.  

Kasthuri, who is also DAP’s deputy secretary of international affairs, said she will be focusing on human rights issues, including abolishing the death penalty, criminalising child marriage, gender inclusivity, civil liberties and social justice for all on a different platform. 

Kasthuri was a member of the Parliamentary Special Select Committee for International Affairs and was elected as president of Parliamentarians for Global Action in her last term as MP.

She thanked DAP adviser Lim Kit Siang and party leaders Lim Guan Eng, Anthony Loke, Chow Kon Yeow and Chong Eng, as well as Batu Kawan voters, for supporting her as a representative for two terms. 

She also thanked the late Karpal Singh for being instrumental to the development of her political career and life. 

Kathuri’s father Patto was a staunch party man.

Patto was detained under the Internal Security Act 1960 twice, first in 1978 and then on October 27, 1987, under Ops Lalang, when he was placed in solitary confinement for 60 days.

He was Gopeng assemblyman at the time. Later, he became Sungai Pari assemblyman and Menglembu MP. He was Bagan assemblyman before he died in 1995. – October 20, 2022.