COMMENT “I will not accept if nominated and will not serve if elected,” is one of the more renowned statements of disavowal in the history of democratic politics.

It is attributed to the famous American civil war general, William Tecumseh Sherman, who responded in this fashion when told that the Republican Party wanted to nominate him as its presidential candidate in 1884.

For its elegant concision and its near-aphoristic brilliance, Sherman’s statement has acquired an imperishable niche in electioneering politics.

Insert a negative in the first half of the sentence - “I will not accept if ‘not’ nominated and will not serve if elected” - and one would arrive at the nub of the DAP’s problem in Penang where party chairperson, Karpal Singh, is at loggerheads with state Deputy Chief Minister P Ramasamy.