Loke seeks to appease dropped candidates, party members

After dropping eight incumbents from the upcoming Penang state election, DAP secretary-general Anthony Loke is attempting to appease party members and those who did not make it into the party lineup.

He reminded party members that the candidates’ success is not their victory alone as it belongs to the party and Pakatan Harapan.

“For sure, there will be new faces, some will retire, and some will not get nominated again. This is a process we go through in every election,” he said.

However, he urged all party members to support the selected candidates during the campaign period.

“It’s not a personal victory for any particular candidate we field. Their victory is a victory for the party and Pakatan Harapan.

“There is no such thing as that a personal victory would take precedence,” he asserted in his speech.

He also reiterated that if Harapan and BN win in Penang, the party will nominate the caretaker Penang chief minister Chow Kon Yeow for a second term.

Among the notable incumbents dropped in the major shake-up were five caretaker state executive council members – deputy chief minister II P. Ramasamy, DAP Women’s chief Chong Eng, Phee Boon Poh, Yeoh Soon Hin and Soon Lip Chee.

After serving several terms as assemblypersons in Penang, these veteran leaders have an immense supporters base in the northern state.

Emulating a similar move made in Selangor, Loke had offered to propose Yeoh as the next Penang Port Commission chairperson as what is seen to be a consolation prize for the latter after not being selected to defend his Paya Terubong state seat.

In a separate press conference today, Loke also made it known that Yeoh will be proposed as a parliamentary candidate when the next general election comes around.

During the event at JEN Penang Georgetown Hotel, there was one jarring omission – the absence of Ramasamy, Chong and Soon.

Phee, who announced his plan to retire a while back, supported his daughter Syn Tze, who will be contesting in Sungai Puyu, the seat vacant by her father.

While Ramasamy has yet to make a public statement after not being fielded to defend his stronghold in Perai, Chong called on her supporters not to lose hope in DAP.

In a vague Facebook post, Chong said, “For those who supported me, don’t give up on DAP.

“Party is made up of men and women. We can’t expect everyone to be perfect.

“So you can give up on (an) individual but don’t give up on the party.”

On July 11, Chong openly supported Chow to serve a second term should Harapan wins in Penang again.

She had also said the party should consider announcing the candidate for Penang CM.

Two days later, the DAP top leadership unanimously nominated Chow as the party's candidate for Penang chief minister.

The DAP also decided there will be a "major renewal" in DAP members who take up state cabinet positions if the Pakatan Harapan-BN pact was mandated to form the government.

Speculation was rife that there has been heavy lobbying from various party factions to get their candidates of choice into the line-up for the upcoming state poll.

Earlier today, a leaked list of candidates was shared on social media just hours before DAP made its official announcement and was reported by local portals and online newspapers.

In response to the viral list, which was proven to be 100 per cent accurate, Loke quipped by expressing his thanks to the media for publishing articles on the list of candidates before he made the announcement.

“DAP Penang is known for its transparency. Even its candidates’ list is transparent. I have the list here, but the media published it before I announced it.

“We don’t have to hide it anymore. If it’s not correct, we will say so. But if it’s correct, we don’t need to hide it. We admit that this is the correct list.” - Mkini