DAP declines to reveal counter offer

Tuesday April 1, 2008
By NIK KHUSAIRI IBRAHIM

PENANG: Buntong assemblyman A. Sivasubramaniam retracted his resignation from DAP after a private conversation with party secretary-general Lim Guan Eng.

Lim, who confirmed this Tuesday, however refused to disclose if he had made any counter offer to persuade Sivasubramaniam to stay on in the party.

Sivasubramaniam had tendered his resignation on Monday only to retract it six hours later.

His resignation would have put the DAP-PAS-PKR coalition government in Perak in a precarious position, as it would only have a one-seat majority in the house. Barisan Nasional currently holds 28 out of the 59 state seats.

Asked if Sivasubramaniam’s dissatisfaction was due to the allocation of state exco seats which did not include any Indians from the party, Lim said the matter had been settled.

"We will hold further discussions (behind closed doors) because this is an internal party matter," he told a press conference on Tuesday.

Sivasubramaniam, who is Perak DAP assistant secretary, had faxed a letter to Lim stating his dissatisfaction with the Perak DAP leadership.

He had claimed that Perak DAP chairman Ngeh Koo Ham did not fulfil his promise to appoint two state executive council posts to Indian assemblymen.

Lim said DAP had accepted Sivasubramaniam back into its fold although his action had caused uneasiness within the party