DAP national chairman Karpal Singh has given 24 hours for Sim Tong Him and former Teratai representative Jenice Lee to publicly apologise and withdraw themselves as independent candidates.
"The party will not hesitate from expelling those who commit an act of rebellion against the party.
"But I give them 24 hours to publicly apologise and declare that they would not sustain the status as Independent.
"What they have done could have been driven by emotions but it is unforgivable and intolerable," he said in a press conference Sunday.
Sim is the incumbent for the Kota Melaka parliamentary, but he also filed his papers as an Independent for the Kota Laksamana state seat in Malacca.
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Lee was not picked as a DAP candidate for the polls, but filed papers to defend her Teratai state seat as an Independent in Selangor.
Meanwhile in JOHOR BARU, DAP adviser Lim Kit Siang said that the party will consider meting out a befitting punishment and not necessarily sack the members who contested as Independents if they withdrew their candidacy.
He said that he understood that their actions were due to the disappointment of not being nominated again and urged them to adhere to the party's decision.
Lim reminded the candidates that they won in the 2008 general election due to the people's support for the party, not for individual efforts.
"Throughout history, we see majority instances where candidates leave the party to contest as independents and in the end lose their deposit.
"This shows that the people support the party, not the individual," he said in a press conference here Sunday.
When asked whether the independent candidates would affect Pakatan Rakyat's mission to take over the government, Lim said that the political scene in the country has long been shaped.
"The people either want Barisan Nasional or Pakatan. There is no third choice," he added.
On April 20, four DAP members filed their nomination papers as Independent candidates.
They are Sim and Lee, incumbent Mengkibol assemblyman Ng Lam Hua and Pahang DAP vice chairman Koh Boon Heng who is contesting the Damak state seat.
