Melaka DAP chief Sim Tong Him wants his party's central committee to resolve the factional dispute in Melaka once and for all, and investigate complaints that the loss of the Kota Melaka parliamentary seat was due to this.

"The matter should be viewed very seriously. If the party thinks I am an obstacle to state unity, then the leaders can take action against me, including dropping me. They should make a clear stand and settle this (factional problems) once and for all," Sim said when contacted.

Rivalry within the party's Melaka branch has been a long-standing issue, with Sim leading one faction and former Kota Melaka MP Lim Guan Eng and wife Betty Chew, the state assemblyperson for Durian Daun, leading the other.

The Kota Melaka parliamentary seat had been a DAP fortress since 1969. Former secretary-general Kerk Kim Hock, the incumbent, lost the seat to MCA newcomer Wong Nai Chee by a slim 219 votes.

Kerk, who took the loss as a signal for an early retirement, immediately announced his resignation last Monday.

On Sunday, Kerk revealed during a press conference that infighting - manifested by certain party members openly going around his constituency to discredit him and refusing to put up his posters - had cost the DAP its stronghold of Kota Melaka.

In response to this, Sim today said he could not verify the allegations that certain party members had campaigned against Kerk.

While he did hear that Kerk had faced problems while campaigning, Sim said his own campaign for the Ayer Keroh state seat remained unaffected by internal disputes. He eventually lost to MCA's Seah Kwi Tong by 2,987 votes.

"To be very fair, my seat was lost not because of problems created by members, but because of the swing in Malay votes and MCA's well-organised machinery, especially its women's wing," he said.

"Also, we found out that many older voters feared voting opposition because their serial numbers were noted on their ballots."

However, he said he would still like to see national leaders step into Melaka and "sort out the mess". A state-level post-mortem has been conducted to assess the losses.

'Storm in a teacup'

Newly-appointed secretary-general M Kulasegaran described the factional problems as "probably just a storm in a teacup", citing the fact that state leaders had failed to raise the matter during a central committee meeting last night in Kuala Lumpur.

"I take it that the matter was not urgent enough to be discussed," he said.

When contacted, Kerk denied that his comments were in way related to the reasons for his resignation, which was accepted by party leaders last night.

He said the comments were made in the context of "parting advice" to the leadership and were meant to be viewed constructively to inspire change, particularly when the internal rivalry "seems to have gotten out of hand".

"There is a lot of misconception over my reasons for quitting. But I would like to stress that the parting words have nothing to do with my resignation. Certainly factional disputes occur, as in any other party, but we don't work against one another in a way which exceeds tolerable limits," he said.

"I hope (my advice) will bring change to the party. What is the point of telling people you have won so many seats...unless you are also able to inspire the younger generation, and convince the younger DAP members that there is going to be change."

Life after politics

Asked whether he would miss politics, Kerk said he would but added that his decision was inevitable following his electoral loss.

"I'm a mature politician...it would be untenable for me to stay on. How can anyone lead a battle convincingly if they have been defeated?"

Observers said that, with Kerk out of the picture, there could be moves to place Guan Eng in the secretary-general's post in September when the party holds its congress.

Lim is widely seen by party members to be next in line for the post, previously held by his father Kit Siang and currently by Kulasegaran who was appointed last night.

However, Guan Eng declined to comment when contacted today.