PENANG DAP chairperson Steven Sim Chee Keong has downplayed mounting speculation over who will succeed Chow Kon Yeow as chief minister, saying it is still too early for the party to name a replacement.
Speaking to journalists during a recent Mid-Autumn Festival event, Sim said the party’s current priority is serving the people effectively at both state and federal levels.
“It is way too early to decide on Chow's successor,” said Sim, who also serves as Human Resources Minister in the federal cabinet. “We are now focused on delivering our duties as elected representatives.”
Chow, who led Penang DAP to another electoral victory in the 2023 state polls, is currently serving his second and final term as chief minister.
Though DAP retained all 19 seats it contested, the broader Pakatan Harapan (PH) coalition ceded 11 of the 40 state seats to the Opposition, led by Perikatan Nasional (PN) and PAS.
Following Chow’s announcement last year that he would step down from the state party leadership — after nearly two decades at the helm — speculation has swirled around his possible successors.
Among the names frequently mentioned are: Steven Sim himself, seen as a rising force in the party following his appointment as state DAP chair; Former chief minister Lim Guan Eng, the national party heavyweight and son of DAP stalwart Tan Sri Lim Kit Siang; Lim Hui Ying, the current Deputy Finance Minister and Lim Guan Eng’s sister; Yeoh Soon Hin, Penang Port Commission chairman and a former state executive councillor and Wong Hon Wai, a senior state executive councillor with considerable grassroots support.
Some political chatter has even suggested a possible reshuffling in the future federal cabinet, with Yeoh and Sim potentially swapping roles, should PH and its unity coalition partners retain power after the next general election, due by 2028.
Sim clarified that any decision regarding leadership succession will be made through consensus among state party leaders.
“It will be a collective decision when the time comes,” he said.
Chow’s recent comments suggesting that state and federal elections may be held concurrently in the next cycle — to reduce the cost of administering elections — have further fuelled discussion about the timing and strategy behind the transition in state leadership.
Chow is Penang’s seventh chief minister and succeeded Lim Guan Eng in 2018. He is widely credited with a steady, technocratic style of governance, though some within the party have called for younger leadership to reinvigorate DAP’s base in the state.
For now, however, party leaders appear determined to shift the focus away from succession politics.
“Our work is far from over. The people expect delivery, not distractions,” said Sim. - September 28, 2025.
