Questions have been raised as to how there could be such a huge “recount” discrepancy and mistake in the DAP Central Executive Committee (CEC) election results where Zairil Khir Johari’s votes for election to the DAP CEC increased by 498 votes from the 305 votes announced on 15th December 2012 to the actual vote of 803 (placing him in the 20th elected position), while Vincent Wu Him Ven could drop 533 votes from the 1,202 votes announced on 15th December 2012 to the actual vote of 669 votes (putting him in the 26th elected position).
The blunder however did not arise from any vote counting, as Zairil and Wu’s votes were properly counted and tabulated as 803 and 669 votes respectively but from a computer error resulting in the votes for the last eight candidates (i.e. No. 61 – 68) also being posted with the same votes as those of Candidates Number 31 to 38, as follows, viz:
| No | Candidate | Votes | No | Candidate | Votes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 31 | LIM LIP ENG | 448 | 61 | WONG SAI HOONG | 448 | |
| 32 | LIU TIAN KHIEW (RONNIE) | 761 | 62 | WONG SZE PHIN @ JIMMY | 761 | |
| 33 | LOKE SIEW FOOK (ANTHONY) | 1202 | 63 | WU HIM VEN (VINCENT) | 1202 | |
| 34 | M. KULA | 984 | 64 | YONG WUI WUI (VIOLET) | * | |
| 35 | MANOGARAN A/L MARIMUTHU | 305 | 65 | ZAIRIL KHIR JOHARI | 305 | |
| 36 | MANOHARAN MALAYALAM | 216 | 66 | ZULKIFLI BIN MOHD NOOR | 216 | |
| 37 | NG CHIN TSAI | 39 | 67 | ROSELI BIN ABDUL GANI | 39 | |
| 38 | NG WEI AIK | 407 | 68 | TAN BOON PENG | 407 |
As a result, Wu (No. 63) was posted with the votes of No. 33 (i.e. 1,202 votes) and Zairil’s (No. 65) was posted with the votes of No. 35, (i.e. 305 votes) when the actual tabulation should have been 669 for Wu and 803 for Zairil based on the ballots cast and counted at the DAP National Congress.
There was no element of fraud, manipulation or dishonesty in vote counting and tabulation process.
The blunder in the recent DAP CEC election results is a salutary lesson and reminder to all DAP leaders to always remain honest and humble, guided by the wisdom of the saying “Honesty is the Best Policy” if they are to continue to command the trust and confidence of Malaysians.
Despite the sorrow, I can state with pride that although the DAP Central Working Committee and Central Executive Committee were aware that the blunder is deeply embarrassing and would subject the DAP to a ferocious and merciless political and media onslaught, twisting the distorting the issue with baseless insinuations and allegations, no leader had suggested a cover-up of the blunder and the leadership is united that we should tell the truth to the party and the public and face the negative reactions frontally.
Our political antagonists may see this as a weakness for them to try to exploit and divide the party, but this is in fact a strength where the DAP leadership is prepared to own up to and rectify its mistakes however embarrassing they might be because we believe in humility and “Honesty is the Best Policy”.