Former Subang MP Wong Chen has questioned why DAP secretary-general Anthony Loke chose to offer his resignation as Transport Minister following the controversy surrounding former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s conditional pardon.
Wong Chen said Loke’s decision had raised questions over why he was taking responsibility when other DAP leaders linked to the issue had not offered to step down.
Loke announced on Saturday that he would submit his resignation to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim after a three-hour meeting of the DAP Central Executive Committee (CEC). The decision was made as the party’s response to Najib being granted a conditional pardon allowing him to serve the remainder of his sentence under house arrest.
However, Loke said the resignation would only involve him, while other DAP ministers and deputy ministers would remain in the government to maintain political stability.
In a Facebook post on Sunday, Wong Chen specifically questioned why Federal Territories Minister Hannah Yeoh, who is a member of the Pardons Board, had not offered to resign.
He also pointed to Housing and Local Government Minister Nga Kor Ming, who had previously spoken publicly about the possibility of resigning if Najib were “freed”, but has remained in the Cabinet.
“At its core, the public is questioning why Anthony Loke offered to resign, while Hannah Yeoh, who sits on the Pardons Board, did not offer to step down.
“Likewise, Nga Kor Ming, who had previously publicly stated that he might resign if Najib was ‘freed’, has also not offered to resign. Instead, Anthony Loke stepped forward to take full responsibility,” he said.
Wong Chen also drew on his own experience of resigning as an MP, using it as an example of what he described as individual responsibility in politics.
He said he had resigned as the Subang MP after his access to parliamentary constituency allocations was restricted, but did not resign simply because Lee Chean Chung’s access to Petaling Jaya constituency allocations had been restricted.
“As a simple analogy, my resignation as the MP happened after my access to parliamentary constituency allocations was blocked. I did not resign simply because Lee Chean Chung’s access to Petaling Jaya constituency allocations was blocked,” he said.
Wong Chen said collective responsibility among political leaders was generally regarded as a sensible and appropriate political position.
However, he argued that sacrificing a senior leader while allowing other leaders to remain as ministers was a different matter.
