Po Kuan's quit decision an elaborate ploy

A DAP member has dropped a bombshell on circumstances surrounding Fong Po Kuan's earlier shock decision not to defend the Batu Gajah parliament seat.

Cheong Peng Choon (right) claimed that Fong had wanted to quit politics a long time ago and had hatched an elaborate plan to allow incumbent Pasir Pinji assemblyperson Thomas Su Keong Siong to fill her shoes.

Cheong, who was previously the secretary to DAP state chairperson Ngeh Khoo Ham, claimed that this was because Fong's believes that the party would turn down her suggestion that Su be fielded in Batu Gajah.

"Her plan was to coerce the party into taking Su as the candidate (Batu Gajah) seat (by quitting) because she knew that the party would not endorse her suggestion,

"So she announced that she will not contest at the eleventh hour to block the party from fielding anyone else," said Cheong, who described Su as an incapable leader.

Elaborating, Cheong said that if the party fielded anyone else, it would confirm her earlier claims that certain party leaders were trying to jeopardise her performance in the constituency.

Negative publicity

On Feb 17, Fong made a shock announcement that she would not contest the Batu Gajah seat which she had held for two-terms. At the time, she also recommended Su as her replacement.

She claimed that certain party leaders had "interfered" with her work in the constituency, fueling speculations of an internal feud and that Perak DAP secretary Nga Kor Ming was eyeing her seat.

Her decision caused widespread embarrassment for the party and had forced DAP advisor Lim Kit Siang to declare that he had been made a scapegoat because of the incident.

Six days later, Fong made an abrupt U-turn and stated her intention to contest the seat.

During a press conference in Ipoh today, Cheong spoke at length of how Fong was unable to get along with Perak DAP leaders such as Ngeh and Nga and also had problems with party branch leaders within her constituency.

Asked why Fong decided to contest again, Cheong said her plan had backfired as she and the party were receiving a lot of negative publicity.

Party reputation

He claimed that even her decision to contest for the seat had upset the Perak DAP lineup and had caused several would-be candidates, including himself, to be denied a chance to contest.

Cheong was originally slated to contest the Tronoh state seat, under the Batu Gajah parliament constituency, several hours before the Perak DAP lineup announcement.

Cheong claimed that the entire episode had damaged the reputation of the party and its leaders, particularly Kit Siang's, thus prompting him to publicly clarify the matter today.

"Don't be misled by Fong and not vote for the party leaders that have their reputation affected by this incident," he stressed.

Cheong added that he was unperturbed by the likelihood that he would be disciplined by the party for his revelation as he wanted to public to know the details of the incident.

Despite several attempts, Malaysiakini was unable to obtain a response from Fong.