Ex-WP member: Quitting not timed to hurt
party
By Tessa Wong
FORMER Workers’ Party (WP) member and Nee Soon GRC candidate
Sajeev Kamalasanan has dismissed online suggestions that he timed
his resignation to discredit the party.
He also rejected accusations that he had alleged that the
party and its chairman Sylvia Lim, who is an MP for Aljunied GRC,
were racist.
He quit the WP on Sunday, and after copies of his
announcement began appearing online, netizens wondered whether his
resignation was aimed at damaging WP’s credibility at a critical
period.
Yesterday, in a statement, he said his departure was “not
timed to discredit/affect WP in the Hougang by-elections”.
“The timing is incidental, a natural progression of the
multiple unsatisfactory discussions/talks” he said he had with Ms
Lim in March and last month on the party’s selection process for
cadres.
He also pointed out that he had never said “at any time
that Ms Lim or WP is racist, and I would urge others not to
misconstrue the reasons for my resignation”.
He admitted that as there were no witness present during
his talks with Ms Lim, neither side could prove what was said.
“The public is free to form its own opinions and I
respect that,” he said.
In his earlier statement, Mr Sajeev said he was not made
a cadre after standing in last year’s general election.
He alleged that when he asked Ms Lim why he was not
nominated, one reason she gave was that “it has been the party’s
experience that Indians tend to leave after getting party
cadreship”.
On Monday, Ms Lim dismissed the allegations that she and
her party were racist as “baseless and absurd”.
Mr Pritam Singh, one of two minority-race MPs in
Aljunied, also said “racism was not an issue” in the WP. The other
minority-race MP is Mr Muhamad Faisal Abdul Manap.
But in his statement yesterday, Mr Sajeev called on the
WP to be “transparent and account to the public if there is a
healthy and active participation of minorities” in its cadreship or
central executive committee, “besides the minority Aljunied GRC
MPs”.
His resignation led former WP East Coast GRC candidate
Mohamed Fazli Talip to post on his Facebook page yesterday: “With
Sajeev’s departure from the party, I am still disappointed about
the selection process for cadreship and candidacy.”
Pointing out that representing a party in an election
involves a sacrifice of time and money, he added: “Recognition
should be given.”
Mr Fazli left the WP in February, citing personal and
work commitments as his reasons for leaving.
Their departure notwithstanding, both men wished the WP
candidate Png Eng Huat “all the best” in the May 26 Hougang
by-election.
home, The Straits Times, May 16, 2012, Pg B5
