Loke has a lot on his plate

THERE have been so many denials of tensions between the sitting and former Penang chief minister that it is starting to sound like a song on repeat.

DAP secretary-general Anthony Loke, in a stirring speech at the Penang DAP convention a week ago, took pains to dismiss rumours of a rift and before that, “lao da” or elder brother as Lim Kit Siang is referred to these days, said he was unaware of such a situation.

But many Penangites are not convinced because they have observed the cold body language between Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow and his predecessor Lim Guan Eng.

It has been clear as daylight - the tense handshakes, little eye contact and each looking the other way when in a group. Some have also noticed now one would get up to leave when the other starts speaking on stage during formal dinners.

More recently, media personnel covering the party convention in Penang were all agog at how the speech of one protagonist seemed like a direct reprimand of the other.

It has been a bit like the Mahathir-Pak Lah crisis when Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad was breathing down the neck of Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi. Hopefully, Chow will not go the same way as Abdullah.

Loke was quite shrewd in picking the Penang convention to stress that Chow will serve a full term and must groom his successor. He was telling his party that he did not want the DAP-led state government put in jeopardy by infighting.

The state constitution imposes a two-term limit on the chief ministership, and Chow will have to ensure he is not a lame-duck Chief Minister.

Chow lacks the social skills and confidence of Guan Eng, who had the ability to suck the oxygen out of a room when he walked in.

Moreover, Chow’s second term had taken off with a controversial land deal that was the talk of Penang business circles and called into question his decision-making as a state leader.

Party elections are scheduled for next year, and Chow may struggle to maintain his top spot in the Penang line-up. It is not going to be easy for this soft-spoken politician who is a loner with few allies.

For instance, Chow was conspicuously missing when Loke had breakfast with several Penang leaders, including Guan Eng and his deputy minister sister Hui Ying, at a kopitiam on the morning of the DAP convention

Who is Chow going to pick and groom as the next chief minister? Political convention dictates it has to be a Chinese and from DAP.

“Penang DAP has a succession problem. How will Chow groom anyone from this crop of newbies?” said Jeff Ooi, a former DAP politician and now a Sin Chew Daily columnist.

The new faces are rather a garden variety and there are doubts about the educational background of some of them. A few are so green that they struggle to make a proper speech.

DAP used to be able to attract outstanding people who shone like stars and inspired young people to join the party. Is the decline in quality a sign that they are taking their support for granted?

The most qualified person for the chief minister post is Guan Eng, who, having served two terms, is disqualified by the state constitution. He is also not as popular as he used to be.

The last 15 years of Pakatan Harapan rule in Penang have been like a marathon honeymoon, but if social media chatter is any indication, the honeymoon is over.

Penang voters need to be impressed, and Chow had better groom someone with experience and tertiary education who can speak proper Bahasa Malaysia and English apart from Mandarin.

The future of DAP’s hold over Penang is as much Loke’s problem as it is Chow’s. Chow has indicated he does not intend to cling on as an assemblyman when he completes his term.

He will ride off into the sunset, but Loke, who took over as secretary-general last year, is still working hard to strengthen his hold over DAP. Loke would want Penang to remain a DAP stronghold to validate his hold over the party.

“Anthony has yet to step out of the shadow of the Lim Dynasty,” said Ooi.

It is said that Loke is where he is today thanks to the support of Kit Siang. Loke proposed to the government to confer the Tan Sri title to the elder and was instrumental in persuading Kit Siang to accept it.

For that, Guan Eng openly thanked Loke by citing the Chinese proverb: When you drink the water, remember the source.

Loke is fortunate to be a peacetime leader in charge of a party enjoying the trappings and clout of power.

He has another four years to sort out the Penang succession issue, and is more immediate problem is how to assuage the Chinese base, where dissatisfaction is growing over economic issues and the perception that the ruling coalition is taking the community for granted.

The “hua sa” or Chinese-educated segment in the party feels that DAP has failed to stand up on issues that the community feels strongly about. The perception is that DAP, despite being the biggest bloc in the government, has lost its voice and has become another MCA.

A wartime leader can bang tables and raise his voice, but a peacetime leader who is in power needs to approach problems and issues in a more delicate way.

Loke, unlike other DAP leaders, is well-liked by Malays. They appreciate his language skills and the way he carries himself. He also has the Prime Minister's ear.

But he needs to arrest the rumblings on the Chinese grounds and convince the Chinese that the party still has their interests at heart.

Loke has a lot on his plate.

The views expressed here are entirely the writer’s own