DAP 'fire' put out by editor's apology

Dec 15: In Malaysian politics, all it takes to light the fire is a spark in the form of misreporting. This was the case with the recent spat between Penang deputy chief minister P Ramasamy and DAP chairman Karpal Singh. The dispute was over Ramasamy's use of the word 'godfather' widely believed to be targeted at Karpal. But following Tamil daily Makkal Osai’s apology for misquoting Ramasamy, the war of words looks set to end. In a statement today, a three-panel team comprised of DAP Lim Kit Siang, secretary general Lim Guan Eng and life-time advisor Chen Man Hin came to a decision that party leaders must move on and resolve their dispute within the party channel.“Taking into account the Makkal Oosai clarification and mindful of the great concerns of the people over the unity, cohesion and solidarity of the DAP leadership, Karpal, Ramasamy and the DAP CEC have decided to move forward as one solid and committed political team to complete the final preparations for the challenges of the 13th general election expected in the next few months,” the trio's statement read. Makkal Osai editor M Rajan rectified the alleged report dated November 28 on the choice of DAP candidates in the next general election, by saying that the source of information was not Ramasamy. Rajan expressed regret that the report caused friction between Karpal and Ramasamy, whose supporters were indulging in a verbal war over the past week.