DAP party polls results show no one is untouchable

KLANG: The results of the DAP party polls at its 17th national congress appears to be laden with a clear and concise message to its leaders.

It was a simple yet glaring message – that no one is untouchable and indispensable.

That is probably the only explanation behind the literal expulsion of several highly popular figures from the line-up.

Besides this, many who had emerged within the top five in the past, have also unceremoniously slid down the ranks.

In addition to this, none of the Malay candidates except for one made it into the list of 30 top winners.

The biggest shock was probably that huge personalities like Tony Pua, Serdang MP Ong Kian Meng, as well as Bakri MP and former science, technology and innovation minister Yeo Bee Yin did not make it into the top 30.

All three were DAP sweethearts who were regarded as the party’s crème-de-la-crème not long ago.

Instead of waffling excuses as to why he had not made the cut, Pua in his typical direct manner issued a statement saying the outcome was indicative of party members’ rejection of him.

This is the first time Pua has lost since he started contesting for the CEC position in 2008.

The results also saw several party heavyweights such as newly appointed chairman Lim Guan Eng, Johor DAP chairman Liew Chin Tong and his deputy Teo Nie Ching slide down the ranks as opposed to previous CEC polls results.

What was surprising was also that Sungai Pelek assemblyman Ronnie Liu, who although failed to make it into the Selangor state committee, had done very well for himself by landing in 20th place with 1,070 votes.

Another big surprise was former Johor assemblyman Tan Hong Pin doing badly in his state but managed to garner 992 votes and came 23rd.

When contacted, a party insider said in DAP the outcome could always turn volatile depending on how the delegates perceived the candidate at that point in time.

“Take for instance Gobind Singh Deo who was number one with 1,782 votes.

“This showed that every group and faction within the DAP had voted for him as he was perceived as a neutral leader they can reach out to,’’ said the party insider.

He said Tony’s fall from grace within the party was due to his allegedly brash action such as his recent call for the board of governors of the renowned Foon Yew High School in Johor Baru to resign for allowing former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak to visit the institution.

“The board of governors are highly respected and important members of the Chinese community and Tony’s criticism of them did not go down well,’’ said the party insider.

He added being an urbanite who did not subscribe to any form of ethnic primordial loyalty, Pua was clueless on how important it was to not fray certain sentiments.

To make matters worse, said the insider, Pua was also believed to be linked to the move by the Finance Ministry to cut allocations given to Tunku Abdul Rahman University College (TAR UC) during Pakatan Harapan’s tenure as Federal Government.

“As far as the DAP grassroots members are concerned, TAR UC has provided education to many youngsters from lower-income families from the time it was simply known as TAR College," said the party insider, adding that the grassroots members would fight anything or anyone seen as trying to derail the institution.

This was also the reason why former finance minister and Bagan MP Lim Guan Eng had slid to the eighth position after being one of the top five in the previous years.

The party insider said Lim would have slid further down had it not been the end of his tenure as party secretary-general as well as his father Lim Kit Siang’s departure from active politics - both of which had solicited him some ‘compassionate’ votes.

When asked why only one out of the ten Malay party members had won a place in the CEC, a veteran DAP member said this was because many of the party members did not know them personally.

He said Ketari assemblyman Young Syefura Othman, was the only candidate who made it into the CEC with 991 votes because she moved around freely amongst the grassroots members.

“The others do not do that and in the DAP culture, they don’t really care what your race is as it all boils down to whether they know you or not,’’ said the party veteran.

Among the ten Malay contenders were Tebing Tinggi assemblyman Dr Abdul Aziz Bari, Raub MP Tengku Zulpuri Shah Raja Puji and Tanjong Bunga assemblyman Zairil Khir Johari who received 648, 542 and 662 votes respectively.

As for Yeo, one of the newly appointed CEC members said he didn't know why she failed to make it into the top 30 as the former minister was a down-to-earth person who mixed well with the party grassroots.