Dynastic politics fading in DAP

THE day had begun well for Gobind Singh Deo. He was upbeat and energetic when addressing the Selangor DAP convention, little knowing that this would be his last speech as the party’s Selangor chairman.

By the end of the day, he was out in the cold after failing to make it into the 15-man line-up who won in the party’s state election.

It was a massive fall from the pinnacle considering who he is - the son of Karpal Singh, Digital Minister and national deputy chairman.

Gobind lost despite the earnest endorsement by DAP secretary-general Anthony Loke when he officiated at the Selangor convention, and many DAP leaders are still trying to digest what happened.

Was it because he was not that active on the ground? There had been rumblings that Gobind is good at giving speeches but could not mingle with the ordinary folk. The Chinese-speaking crowd sometimes claimed that he “stayed up there on the altar”.

The DAP base in Selangor is very Chinese and the new line-up shows that the Chinese leaders who won came from the hua-sha or Chinese-educated group who are the mainstay of the party. Putting a non-Chinese as the Selangor chairman was good for optics but it is like offering teh tarik to people who prefer Chinese tea.

Or is it because Gobind is too closely associated with DAP chairman Lim Guan Eng? It is no secret that he had the unwavering support of the Lim family.

Moreover, he was until a year ago, Guan Eng’s lead counsel in the latter’s undersea tunnel corruption trial. There were also unverified claims that Guan Eng wanted him for the Penang Chief Minister post in the run-up to the six-state election last year.

Or can we speculate that the party is tired of dynastic politics given that Gobind’s elder brother Jagdeep Singh, who is Deputy Chief Minister, also lost in the Penang DAP election?

Guan Eng’s sister Lim Hui Ying, who is Deputy Finance Minister and a contender for the Chief Minister post, had also ended up near the bottom in the same election. The whisper campaign in Penang then was that a vote for Hui Ying is a vote for Guan Eng.

Party members are often thrilled to see the offspring of outstanding leaders come up in the party. But the trouble with children of famous parents is that they come in with an entitled attitude. They think the party owes them just because of the sacrifices their father made.

According to a DAP insider, being in the cai dan of the prevailing group is crucial to cross the mid-point of 700 votes. This raises the question whether Gobind was in the coveted cai dan in Selangor.

The party insider said there was apparently an attempt to ask Gobind to step aside but he went ahead.

But Gobind accepted his defeat honourably. He declined to be co-opted into the new state committee, thus giving his successor and the new state chairman Ng Sze Han a free hand to lead, without having to look left and right.

Sze Han, who is Kinrara assemblyman and state exco member, has been one of those under-estimated politicians.

He is some sort of Mr Nice Guy, gets along with almost everyone, always smiling and has few enemies. All this helped propel him into the top three in the last three Selangor DAP elections.

The other shocker of the day was state exco member Ng Suee Lim dropping to No 11 when he had topped the line-up in the 2021 party polls. The Javanese-speaking Sekinchan assemblyman will be doing some soul-searching.

Sunday’s outcome also saw a new Indian centre of confluence with the Veraman brothers, Banting assemblyman Paparaidu and Klang MP Ganabatirau, sailing in at No 4 and No 5.

They clearly control the repository of Indian DAP votes in Selangor.

For ever so long, DAP had tried to project the Karpal children as the Indian face of DAP. But the reality is that the majority of Indians in Malaysia are Tamils and the Sikhs are simply not regarded as their leaders.

The Veraman brothers will put the Tamil-speaking cohort where it belongs in DAP.

The No 1 slot went to Puchong MP Yeo Bee Yin. This is quite ironic given that Gobind, who was the former Puchong MP is out while she is there at the top.

Yeo’s reputation is often overshadowed by the fact that her husband is a billionaire and she lacks the strategic finesse of the political animals in the party.

However, she is a competent and committed politician. She is the new DAP secretary, an important decision-making post that could reboot her political career.

Selangor now has 325 branches, making it the state with the most number of branches and delegates. That would give Sze Han considerable bargaining power in the national DAP election next year.

But a new power axis has also emerged in the party and it does not revolve around family dynasties.

Instead, the power axis revolves around Loke and Perak chairman Nga Kor Ming although they are quite subtle about their political alliance.

They work well together and even adopted the same welfare moves to help the children of members and veteran members in their respective states.

With the state elections wrapped up, the party is now ready for the national DAP election next year.

The last national election was marked by the drama of Tan Sri Lim Kit Siang making his exit from active DAP politics. His retirement has changed the way DAP conducts its politics and paved the way for younger leaders to make their voices heard in line with the changing demographics in the country.

DAP used to be famous for asking those in government to retire but the party is now stuck with dinosaurs of its own who are clinging to their posts and showing no sign of letting go.

Will there be changes in the national party election now that the writing is on the wall?