Up to delegates to decide who leads Penang DAP, says Kon Yeow

PENANG Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow, who is set to relinquish his state DAP chairmanship next week, feels it is best for the delegates to decide on who should lead the party’s state chapter after he had led it for the past 25 years.

Commenting on reports that DAP secretary-general Anthony Loke Siew Fook had suggested his “cai dan” (menu) of nominating Human Resources Minister Steven Sim Chee Keong as Chow’s successor and assisted by Deputy Finance Minister Lim Hui Ling, who will retain her state secretary post, Chow said that the delegates should choose.

“It is a proposal worth considering as the party looks to the future. I believe the secretary-general has carefully evaluated this option before proposing the leadership combination of Saudara Sim and Saudari Lim,” Chow told the state newsletter Bulletin Mutiara.

“Ultimately, it is up to the delegates to make the final decision,” Chow said.

Loke, in an exclusive interview with the Penang-based Kwong Wah Yit Poh newspaper, suggested that Sim take on the leadership role, while Lim would continue serving as the state secretary, stating that their combined leadership would strengthen the party.

The state DAP polls are scheduled for September 22.

Both Sim and Lim are believed to be the protégés of DAP chairman Lim Guan Eng, who has decided to stay out of the contest and has refrained from any public comment.

Sim is the DAP national organising secretary, whereas Lim is the sister of Guan Eng.

Meanwhile, a party veteran admitted that the state party elections on next Sunday would be intense as some 1,000 delegates from over 200 branches deliberate over the future leadership of the state the party that has dominated since 2008.

The veteran, who preferred not to be named, said that it is not only who will lead with Sim and Lim’s names being touted, but it is also about who will be part of the main 15-member committee that is entrusted to dictate the future of Penang DAP.

There are 31 candidates vying for the 15 slots on the state committee.

Under DAP’s party constitution, the 15 who win slots on the committee will then decide who should hold which post and also who they co-opt into the state leadership.

Chow is expected to be made the adviser to Penang DAP. – September 14, 2024.