PENANG DAP veteran Datuk Seri Phee Boon Poh became the third veteran to withdraw from next month's central executive committee (CEC) elections, also citing a need for the younger generation to take over.
Phee said that a new generation of DAP leaders require a clean slate to justify the party's standing as a major component of the national Madani unity government.
He joins former DAP chairman Tan Kok Wai and party treasurer - general Fong Kui Lun who earlier also withdrew from the CEC elections.
A total 30 spots are up for grabs in the CEC while the party can also appoint several others to DAP’s main leadership body.
Saying that he is speaking from the heart, Phee said he owes his public service to the party, and the political organisation is bigger than any personality or leader.
"If you ask me, DAP as a party is bigger than any individual. We owe a big of gratitude to the party," Phee told journalists in Penang.
"Back in 1990 when I first contested, DAP was not just in battle at every general election but on a daily basis to survive as a political entity.
“Many veterans would recall how we had to keep the torch aflame and the party machinery functioning despite limited funds."
According to the 73-year-old, many veterans never lived to see the party coming to power, both in Penang in 2008 and Putrajaya in 2018.
"Yet they never expected anything in return for the sacrifices they made," said Phee.
He said that he has a heavy heart in view of the present political imbroglio in the party, particularly in Penang.
Phee also acknowledged the contributions of DAP's big brother (La Dao) Tan Sri Lim Kit Siang and his son Lim Guan Eng, the former Penang Chief Minister.
"All the sacrifices Guan Eng and his father gave for the struggle will never be forgotten by the party."
But, Phee, who is a DAP strongman from Butterworth reminded present and future leaders that DAP as a party is bigger than any other leader past and present.
He also promised to continue to support the present state DAP administration led by Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow, and the leadership of state chief, Steven Sim Chee Keong and his deputy Ramkarpal Singh Deo. - February 19, 2025.
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