Melaka State Assembly awaits quit-party letters from three DAP assemblymen

The Melaka State Legislative Assembly requires the official letters from the three DAP assemblymen who quit the party today before deciding on their position in the House.

State assembly Speaker, Datuk Othman Muhamad said he expected the three assemblymen to hand in their letters to him at his office at Seri Negeri Complex in Ayer Keroh, here, tomorrow.

He said it was normal for assemblymen to be seated together with those representing their party and when they quit their party, their seating at the assembly would be changed.

"The quit action of the three assemblymen, however, will not affect the next assembly sitting scheduled for Sept 7 to 10," Othman said when contacted by Bernama.

The three assemblymen involved are Lim Jak Wong (Bachang), Chin Choon Seong (Kesidang) and Goh Leong San (Duyong), while the DAP member of Parliament who also quit the party today is Sim Tong Him (Kota Melaka).

Othman said that after receiving the official letters, Lim and Chin would be seated at the section for independents, while Goh would remain in this section.

On last March 28, Othman announced that Goh was an independent assemblyman in the House after receiving a letter from Goh for him to sit in the section for independents. (Goh was an independent at the assembly sitting but was still a DAP assemblyman).

Goh's DAP membership was suspended for a year from February last year over a disciplinary issue.

For the record, the Melaka state assembly has 28 elected representatives, with 21 of them from UMNO, six from DAP and one from PAS but with the latest development in DAP, the party has only three state seats now.

In a related development, the names of the three DAP assemblymen who quit the party today have been removed from the list of Melaka assemblymen representing the party, based on the DAP Malaysia official website.

Only the names of three Melaka DAP assemblymen - Khoo Poay Tiong (Ayer Keroh), Lai Keun Ban (Kota Laksamana) and Tey Kok Kiew (Bandar Hilir) remain in the list on the website. - BERNAMA