Do not consider DAP's wrong vote count small matter

Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin said the miscalculation of votes during the DAP Central Executive Committee (CEC) election last month should not be considered as a small issue as it involved the question of the party's integrity which it claimed was transparent and fair. The Deputy Prime Minister said that Lim Guan Eng, as DAP Secretary-General, should come forward to clarify the move of amending the results, following the mistake, which returned a Malay representative in the CEC. It could be due to a certain agenda in the party leadership, he said. "Even though, the matter may be small, the implication was huge as many people could dispute its integrity, legitimacy and transparency which DAP fought for, and Guan Eng should answer and clarify. "Maybe, there was another agenda in the DAP...maybe, I do not want to accuse, but with many Malay candidates contesting, there was a winner," he said, referring to Zairil Khir Johari who was originally placed in 39th position, and later, 20th position, to qualify as CEC member. Speaking at a media conference after attending a luncheon with Proton staff at Proton City here Saturday, Muhyiddin, who is also Barisan Nasional (BN) Deputy Chairman, said the correction and recount, so long after the election, was something strange and extraordinary as if there were 'hidden hands' in the matter. He said, DAP had made itself a "laughing stock" in the latest episode and questioned how the party which disputed the transparency of the Election Commission, found itself as being not transparent. "Now, many are questioning whether the DAP election system is transparent and fair, and there are parties saying that there should be a re-election. "I am not a DAP member, I do not have any right but I see that if we think DAP is really fair and transparent, what had happened, truly reflected the party," he said. Muhyiddin said the people could now evaluate for themselves, the kind of transparency DAP was fighting for, and if such an issue were to happen in Umno, it would be circulated all over the world. He said, compared to the DAP, Umno would never carry out re-counting of votes if the decision had been announced, and the tallying of votes could only be carried out on the day the votes were counted, as practised in an election. Yesterday, an English daily reported that DAP admitted making mistakes in its counting of votes at the CEC election announced on Dec 15, and with the amended results, Zairil who was initially in 39th position, was currently placed in 20th place. Vincent Wu, who initially obtained the sixth place with 1,202 votes, fell to number 26 as the party claimed he only obtained 669 votes. On BN's chances in continuing to administer Perak, Muhyiddin said he was confident the existing state government would continue to receive support as the latest status showed improved popularity among the people. While requesting all BN representatives and the entire party machinery to focus on opposition-held specific areas which could be won, the Umno deputy president also wanted support in BN-held areas to further strengthen its hold. He also directed state government officers and businessmen in the party to devote 70 per cent of their daily activities to ensure continued support for Umno. Muhyiddin said, all local issues involving conflict of interests among component parties should be resolved quickly, while continuing to maintain strong ties with one another. "I have decided that the ties must be stronger. Do not create problems with new issues as we know the challenge this time is bigger. We cannot take things easy," he said when commenting on the closed-door meeting with state BN component leaders which took place earlier.