THE DAP will respect the decision by its three veteran leaders to withdraw from the party’s central executive committee (CEC) elections next month.
Its secretary-general Anthony Loke said party chairman Tan Kok Wai and treasurer-general Fong Kui Lun informed him of their wishes to withdraw and pave the way for the younger generation.
“We respect their decisions which were made with the party’s interest and progress in mind.
“They spoke to me of the need to cultivate the younger generation and to give opportunities to young leaders, to serve in leadership roles,” he said during another birthday celebration for Lim Kit Siang’s 84th birthday in Kuala Lumpur last night.
Loke dismissed speculations that Fong and Tan had preconditions in exchange for their exit from the CEC.
Penang DAP veteran Datuk Seri Phee Boon Poh also later yesterday withdrew from the CEC elections, echoing the need for the younger generation to take over.
“Kit Siang became party secretary-general when he was only 29 years old – so you can see that DAP is a party that believes in the capabilities of the young.
“After Kit Siang, many others took leadership roles in their twenties, including myself, I was only 27.
“If a party doesn’t look at young people, it has no future. We are the same, me as secretary-general, I will grow old, so now we must start cultivating our younger generation,” he said.
Loke also paid tribute to Kit Siang and how the party stalwart has always been his pillar of strength when it came to political struggles and decisions.
“Whenever I needed to make decisions, I put myself in his shoes and reminded myself, ‘if Kit Siang was secretary-general, what would he do? And that is how I get answers to my decisions,” he said.
In honour of Kit Siang, Loke said the DAP will hold a DAP ‘family dinner’ yearly to mark the veteran’s birthday. – February 20, 2025
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