‘Lone Ranger’ Teh to stand in Sg Pinang after quitting DAP

Moving on: Teh showing his letter at his service centre in Penang

GEORGE TOWN: Maverick politician Teh Yee Cheu, who has quit DAP, is expected to stand against a former comrade in Sungai Pinang.

Announcing his intention to stay in politics with a “new platform and friends”, he said his choice is Sungai Pinang, where state Wanita DAP chief Lim Siew Khim was elected assemblyman in 2013.

Teh, a two-term Tanjung Bungah assemblyman, said: “I do not want to contest here again so that no one can use this to attack me and say that I’m using party resources.”

He said even though he stood a better chance of winning in Tanjung Bungah, his intention was to “return to them whatever they think is theirs”.

This came after he handed in his letter of resignation from the DAP and returned his five party membership cards to Sri Tanjung Bungah branch chairman Lim Cheng Hoe yesterday.

The “Lone Ranger” as he is known, because of his views that often run contrary to the party line, later read out the letter during a press conference at his service centre in Jalan Osman Bin Abdul Rahman.

Addressed to state party chairman Chow Kon Yeow, the letter stated that Teh’s decision was effective April 7, the day of Parliament’s dissolution.

Last October, he declared he would leave DAP after the dissolution of Parliament because he “could not follow the party any longer”.

A DAP member since 2000, Teh butted heads with state leaders on numerous matters, to the point of calling for Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng to take leave after being charged with corruption in 2016.

He also frequently urged that the chief minister’s tenure be kept to two terms.

Teh even voted for a Barisan Nasional motion in the state assembly.

Teh said he decided to live up to his own words and leave his seat after two terms to develop a new area.

“I am going to start from zero, maybe with a new and small party,” he said.

Teh had earlier expressed his interest to join one of the socialist parties in Penang. It is likely to be Parti Sosialis Malaysia, which has called a press conference on matters involving the Sungai Pinang seat.