GEORGE TOWN – The Lim clan is expected to remain an influential force in the upcoming Penang DAP elections, party insiders told The Vibes.
Lim Hui Ying, 57, is expected to be among the top five out of 15 elected candidates, cementing her place in the state DAP committee.
Hui Ying, a senator, is the daughter of party supremo Lim Kit Siang and younger sister of secretary-general Lim Guan Eng.
In the previous state DAP elections in 2018, she placed in the top 10 after her name was withdrawn at the 11th hour from contesting her father’s previous federal seat, Tanjong, in the 2018 general election.
Penang Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow ran in her place and won after then incumbent Ng Wei Aik was dropped.
Hui Ying’s two other siblings, cardiologist Dr Lim Guan Choon and lawyer Lim Hui Ming, are not in politics.
A Universiti Malaya graduate, Hui Ying used to provide tuition to students in Penang before joining DAP, rising through the ranks to become state party secretary, a post in which she masterminded the effective organising of the party at both the state and grassroots levels.
The Penang DAP elections will be held this Sunday, and there are a record 44 candidates vying for a spot in the committee, but Kit Siang and Guan Eng have chosen to stay out of state-level polls.
Other names expected to be featured in the top 10 are Chow, who is seeking to tighten his grip on the state chapter by becoming its chairman for a fifth consecutive term.
There is also Jagdeep Singh Deo, the eldest son of the late Karpal Singh, and Bukit Mertajam MP Steven Sim, whom some call a rising star in the party.
Chow’s proteges, such as his political secretary Teh Lai Heng and state exco Yeoh Soon Hin, may stand a chance of being re-elected, too.
DAP’s state and national elections will be one to watch as Guan Eng has reached the maximum three terms as secretary-general, and delegates expect him to assume the national chairman’s post following Cheras MP Tan Kok Wai’s retirement.
The Penang DAP elections are held amid shifts at the federal level, especially within Pakatan Harapan, of which DAP is a member, and the state polls are expected to be a barometer of grassroots’ expectation at the federal level.
There have been demands by the state grassroots for the old guard to make way for a younger crop of leaders.
This puts warlords and stalwarts, such as Penang Deputy Chief Minister II P. Ramasamy, Chong Eng and Phee Boon Poh, in a bind, as they face staying on the sidelines, following the likes of Danny Law Choo Kiang and Jeff Ooi Chuan Aun.
But not all are in agreement, saying the “premature retiring” of some veterans have put the party on the spot as the “Young Turks” have failed to perform in certain areas.
Law and Ooi said they are seeking to be in the state committee to provide “checks and balances”, while Boon Poh and his younger brother, Phee Boon Chee, still hold support in Butterworth. – The Vibes, March 17, 2021
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