Kula: Mom’s link with Perkasa won’t hurt Dyana

Ikhwan Zulkaflee

 |
May 27, 2014-FMT

 

The DAP vice chairman says even his parents, who are lifetime members of MIC, did not stop him from subscribing to DAP's ideals.

PETALING
JAYA: It does not matter which organisation DAP Teluk Intan by-election
candidate Dyana Sofya Mohd Daud’s mother belongs to, said party vice
chairman M Kulasegaran today.




Kulasegaran said that Dyana’s mother, Yammy Samad, who is Malay right
wing group Perkasa’s founding member, will not effect on voter
sentiments especially from the non-Malays.




“There are a lot of people who join an organisation only to leave
later. It does not necessarily mean that when you join an organisation,
you condone all its actions,” he said.




Drawing a parallel between Dyana and himself, Kulasegaran said that
he was brought up by parents who are lifetime members of MIC.




“Mind you, my father was not just an ordinary member, he was a
divisional leader in Setiawan. It did not stop my siblings and I from
joining DAP.




“My father even admitted that he had once voted for the opposition in
the 60s,” said Kulasegaran. He said that Dyana should be given a chance
to serve the Teluk Intan constituents.




“She should be looked as a future leader and be given a chance to
shine. BN candidate Mah Siew Keong has been rejected before. How else
would Dyana get experience if she was not given a chance?


“Teluk Intan is a tough battle as BN is pouring millions into the
constituency,” he said, adding that when he contested in the Teluk Intan
by-election in 1997, he was also considered a political greenhorn.




‘Perkasa behaving like an Umno lackey’




Kulasegaran yesterday lodged a police report alleging that BN has
breached the Election Offences Act 1954 by giving out hampers worth at
least RM150 each to Teluk Intan constituents.




He also urged the police to investigate Home Minister Ahmad Zahid
Hamidi’s remarks that he would buy Rela members new uniforms
shouldMah win the by-election.




Meanwhile, at a press conference earlier today in Teluk Intan, Yammy
said she was leaving Perkasa, and urged the media not to involve Dyana
in this matter.




“I am still a member but given the current situation, I declare that I
am leaving Perkasa,” Yamy was quoted as saying by The Malaysian
Insider.




Teluk Intan has 60,349 voters, including 410 early voters and 12
absentee voters. The constituency has 23,301 Malay voters (38.6%),
25,310 Chinese (41.9%) and 11,468 Indians (19%).




In the 2013 general election, Mah, the Gerakan president, was defeated by DAP’s Seah Leong Peng by 7,313 votes.