CONTESTS for the DAP central executive committee (CEC) elections is heating up in Penang with speculations that state DAP leader Datuk Yeoh Soon Hin is also considering joining the race.
Recently, Chief Minister, Chow Kon Yeow also said he will be contesting since ‘he has no party post’.
"I think it is only fair that a Chief Minister holds a position within the party hence I have decided to contest," said Chow.
The Batu Kawan MP and Padang Kota assemblyman emerged number two after Digital Minister Gobind Singh Deo in the last CEC elections.
Prior to becoming the Penang DAP chairman for 25 - years after serving as the political secretary to party stalwart Tan Sri Lim Kit Siang, Chow is now serving out his last term as CM.
Besides Chow, there is Kit Siang’s son Lim Guan Eng and daughter Lim Hui Ying whose bases are also in Penang.
New state DAP chairman and party organising secretary, Steven Sim Chee Keong is also touted to be wanting to defend his post.
Gobind's bother Ramkarpal Singh Deo is also qualified and nominated to contest in the March 16 CEC elections but there is a possibility he may opt out to allow more support for Gobind.
Yeoh is a wildcard but he has been steadily moving up the leadership ranks despite being dropped as a DAP candidate in the state election two years ago.
He was made the Tourism Malaysia Board deputy chairman due to his work as a state executive councillor in charge of tourism, where he oversaw the return of the industry in a big way.
He is also the Penang Port Commission chairman, a post bequeathed by Transport Minister Anthony Loke Siew Fook, DAP secretary - general.
Other names which have been circulated by party insiders include young Malay leaders -Tanjung Bungah asemblyman Zairil Khir Johari and social media personality Syerleena Abdul Rashid, who is also the Bukit Bendera MP.
There are five Penang - based DAP leaders in the CEC now; they are Guan Eng, Hui Ying, Chow, Sim and Penang Hindu Endowment Board chairman RSN Rayer, but party insiders said that there should be more Penang representation.
Previously, there were six leaders, but former deputy chief minister II Dr P. Ramasamy quit DAP in a huff after he was dropped as the candidate together with Yeoh.
Political scientist Datuk Prof Dr Sivamurugan Pandian opined that DAP is now like many ruling parties where position counts in the run up to a general election. - February 24, 2025.
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