JOHOR BARU: DAP leaders are more than welcome to lodge a complaint against him to the party disciplinary committee, says Dr Boo Cheng Hau.

       The former Skudai assemblyman came under fire from Seputeh MP Teresa Kok, Kepong MP Lim Lip Eng, and DAP Youth chief Howard Lee after he made a call to Lim Guan Eng to step down as party chairman due to his corruption charges.

       Dr Boo, who is a Johor DAP committee member, said as the most prominent leader in DAP, Lim’s corruption charges have had adverse impact on the party.

       “I welcome any party members or leaders, including Teresa Kok, Lim Lip Eng, and Howard Lee, who accused me of issuing such a statement out of self-interest, to lodge a complaint to the party disciplinary committee for inquiry, as to whether my statement has adversely affected the party’s interests and principles.

       “I shall face any disciplinary inquiry with great courage and honesty. That would give me a chance to clarify all the baseless allegations,” he said in a Facebook post here on Thursday (March 24).

       Dr Boo added that 20 years ago, he defended Lim when the latter was charged under the Printing Presses and Publication Act for standing up for an alleged statutory rape case of a 15-year-old girl.

       “For me, it was a minute technical mistake that should not have warranted him a five-year jail sentence.

       “But the nature of the former criminal charge and the current corruption charges against Lim are very different as they have brought consequences for the DAP. As a result, we have to face the public with honesty and rationality.

       “Even though with great sadness, I would still insist in rationality that Lim should resign from the DAP national chair post and set the party free from any adversity arising from his corruption charges,” he said.

       He added that many of the public and party members accused him of various derogatory terms without looking into the substance of the issues raised rationally, that is, any leader being charged with corruption should relinquish all public offices until he clears his reputation in court.

       “Some accused me of not accepting the losses at last Sunday DAP's central executive committee (CEC) and of being selfish in urging Lim to relinquish his party national chairman post.

       “This accusation is absolutely absurd and baseless, and its purpose is to confuse the public and party members about the substance of the issues that I raised,” he said.

       He added that in 2018, he had already urged party leaders with corruption charges not to contest in the general election, and was prepared not to be fielded as a candidate by the party and be victimised for issuing such a statement.

       "Despite losing the Skudai state seat in the 1999 and 2004 general elections, I stayed on without compromising party principles until I won it twice with increasing majorities in 2008 and 2013.

       “On the contrary, a few DAP leaders decided to contest in Selangor and Penang at the eleventh hour, which were safer for DAP right before the 2008 general election despite having promised to contest in Johor,” he claimed.

       He said that it was also absurd to accuse him of being vindictive in asking Lim to relinquish the national chairman post because he lost in the CEC election.

       "Before the CEC election, I thought Lim knew what was best for the party and himself after his three-term secretary general tenure ended.

       “It was against my expectation that he sought to continue holding the national chair because I had presumed that he would forgo any top posts and face his corruption charges without dragging the party into any controversy, especially after the party’s losses in the Melaka, Sarawak, and Johor state elections.

       “And now all Pakatan Harapan and DAP leaderships need to study these election losses meticulously and make a strong comeback,” he said.