Elected party posts don’t guarantee govt posts, says Chow

Penang DAP chief Chow Kon Yeow says Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamed left a few senior party leaders flabbergasted when younger party leaders were appointed to Cabinet positions in the Pakatan Harapan government.

GEORGE TOWN: Penang DAP chief Chow Kon Yeow today said elected party posts do not guarantee government positions as is commonly expected.

He said the current make-up of federal ministers and deputy ministers was a testament to that.

Chow said although he was Penang chief minister, it was no guarantee that he would be given or elected into a party position, and hence he decided to contest for a post in the state DAP committee.

“And likewise, the party’s position has not been used to decide whether we get a government position in the state government.

“At the federal level, Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamed left a few senior party leaders flabbergasted when younger party leaders were appointed to Cabinet positions in the Pakatan Harapan government.

“Even though one may be elected as MP, one cannot be certain of being picked as a minister or even as a deputy minister,” Chow said in a Facebook post today, sharing his opinion piece in the Kwong Wah Yit Poh newspaper.

Chow also said he had never lobbied or decided on who should be elected state committee members, but there were delegates in the party who used “menu lists” to get their preferred candidates elected.

(The “menu list” is a guide for delegates on who to vote for, usually created by divisions pushing for their favourite leaders.)

Chow said he had read in the media about “four menu lists” distributed before last Sunday’s state DAP elections.

Chow obtained the highest number of votes (520), followed by deputy chief and state exco man Jagdeep Singh Deo (468 votes) and fellow exco man Yeoh Soon Hin (458 votes).

As a result, Chow remains Penang DAP chief, a position he has held since 1999. Elections are held every two years.

Chow said he, fortunately, had never been caught in any factional fights but called on all Penang DAP members to move on and drive the party into the future.

“I have achieved much since my first foray into the state committee in 1989.

“I will want to hand over a stronger and united party to the next generation of leaders,” he said.

Chow won the Pengkalan Kota state seat in his first attempt in 1990, lost in 1995, regained it five years later and has held it since.

He was Tanjong MP from 1999 to 2004, and again from 2004 to 2008. He was elected MP again in 2018 after a five-year gap. He also won the Padang Kota state seat for three terms from 2008.

Chow is also currently one of DAP’s five national vice-chairmen. - FMT