GEORGE TOWN – It is time for Penang DAP chairman Chow Kon Yeow to shed his unassuming persona and adopt a more assertive stance ahead of the three-year-old report card of the state he helms.
This comes on the heels of Penang DAP veterans making their exit in recent months, and could very well be the party’s biggest challenge since it assumed control of the state in 2008.
DAP should brace itself for competition as more political parties are looking for a foot in the door, such as Sabah-based Warisan and Parti Bangsa Malaysia (PBM).
While those who recently left DAP are grassroots leaders, it is speculated that they could join Warisan or PBM ahead of the general election.
Most of their grouses were centred on DAP losing its way after governing Penang for 13 years. Incidentally, Chow is slated to unveil his three-year report card of the state today.
They claimed that promises went unfulfilled in the party and state while also highlighting the inability to close ranks whenever a party election was held.
Although new parties might not immediately make a dent on DAP’s grasp in Penang, former three-term Batu Lanchang assemblyman Datuk Danny Law Heng Kiang was a formidable figure when he flew the party flag during the 1990s and early 2000s.
Law, his predecessor Chong Eng and Sg Puyu assemblyman Phee Boon Poh were the only ones who held state seats during DAP’s low times when veterans Lim Kit Siang and the late Karpal Singh lost their seats.
So, when news broke that Law is quitting DAP after 35 years, it is impactful for the state chapter, regardless of what his detractors say.
Law has vented his frustration that he has been given a raw deal after being dropped from the 2018 general election.
Former Jelutong MP Jeff Ooi said that it is unfortunate that some leaders have become disillusioned, however, he said, party leaders should think of better ways to handle dissent.
“I think it is how DAP handles dissent that causes the party to suffer this present sense of disillusionment, particularly in Penang, which always has critical-minded leaders.”
He pointed to Lim’s spat with the late Yeap Ghim Guan when they clashed in the 1970s.
It led Yeap to leave the party to form other parties. He then died in 2007.
Then came the KOKS (knockout Kit Siang) campaign when former Penang DAP chairman Teoh Teik Huat and lawyer Gooi Hock Seng clashed with Lim in the 1990s over the party’s strategy to claim Penang.
Now, 20 years later, another faction has grown disconnected with DAP.
Ooi said DAP had made dissenters feel that they were unwanted.
His fall from grace was quite spectacular as Ooi was former Lim Guan Eng’s chief of staff.
Speculations are also rife about former Tanjong MP Ng Wei Aik, who was former political secretary to Guan Eng, on whether he is joining another party. – The Vibes, January 21, 2022
