GEORGE TOWN – Two-term DAP chairman Tan Kok Wai has reportedly decided not to remain in the post at the party’s elections next week as speculations mount that current secretary-general Lim Guan Eng may be nominated to fill the post.
Tan was quoted by Chinese-language newspaper Sin Chew as saying that he is not retiring and that he will contest in the elections, but will likely not stay on as chairman.
He said that it is important for a renewal process to take place in the party which now has 42 MPs, the highest among all parties in the lower house.
“There is no lack of talent in DAP now. It is time to vacate for a new face to step in as the new national chairman,” Tan said in an interview with Sin Chew.
Tan expressed regret that Datuk Teng Chang Khim, the former Selangor DAP chairman and elder brother of former Penang Gerakan chairman Teng Chang Yeow, has decided to quit politics after his present term as the Bandar Baru Klang state assemblyman in Selangor ends.
Teng, 56, was reported as saying that he will not seek re-election for the seat after having been an elected legislator for the last 25 years.
He also confirmed that he would not stand in the elections for DAP's central executive committee.
Yesterday, national organising secretary Anthony Loke Siew Fook, a prospective candidate for DAP secretary-general, announced that the Registrar of Societies (RoS) approved the national congress and central executive committee (CEC) elections to be held no later than June 30 next year.
The party's election was originally scheduled to be held on December 20, with DAP preparing to use video conferencing and virtual telecast for the congress.
Loke said nominations for the CEC have finished and the list of candidates has been finalised.
Guan Eng will complete his maximum three terms as secretary-general and there are rumours that he will possibly assume the chairman’s post in the party polls.
There is already a precedent of this in his own father Lim Kit Siang who took over as chairman 20 years ago after having served as secretary-general.
Insiders said that besides Loke, other names mentioned for the post are the party’s national publicity secretary Tony Pua, Johor chairman Liew Chin Tong and national deputy chairman Gobind Singh – The Vibes, December 8, 2020.
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