Chow urges detractors to end 'topple' movement and back him

 

Penang Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow has called for an end to an alleged movement to topple him.

However, his predecessor Lim Guan Eng believed that this was a matter that should be discussed internally within DAP.

The revelation was made at the Heng Ee Alumni Association's 20th anniversary dinner in George Town last night.

According to Oriental Daily, a display board for the event had the words "回巢" (hui chao) - which means "return to the nest", referring to the return of the alumni.

Chow (above) took the chance to write a similar word "回曹" (hui cao - return to Chow) on the board - changing the last character to be the same Chinese character used for his name.

The chief minister also used the term several times in his speech while urging his detractors to support him.

Chow reportedly told the audience that prior to the state election, there were various speculations of a "倒曹" (dao cao - topple Chow) movement.

He said this raised concerns about whether he would return to office, despite publicly announcing that he intended to serve a second term as chief minister.

However, the Penang DAP chief said he had overcome his challenges, and hoped that those within and outside the party would no longer seek to "dao cao", but to "hui cao" instead.

He also called on the "dao cao" faction to "hui cao" soon to help promote Penang's development and achieve the state’s 2030 vision goals.

He stressed that the Penang constitution had set that a chief minister can only serve for two terms.

"So don’t blame Chow for continuing as chief minister, this is a right granted by the constitution,” he said, referring to himself in the third person.

‘Raise it directly with sec-gen’

Lim - who had served as Penang chief minister for two terms prior to 2018 - was reportedly present at the alumni dinner.

However, he is said to have left the dinner shortly after Chow began his speech to attend another event.

DAP chairperson Lim Guan Eng

China Press cited Lim as saying today that he did not hear the “dao cao” and “hui cao” parts of Chow's speech.

However, the DAP chairperson said Chow should raise the matter through internal party channels.

“I need to know more about this matter, and (if there is) any matter, it should be handled within the party," he said.

He added that Chow could also bring the matter directly to DAP secretary-general Anthony Loke.

Internal strife

Penang DAP has been hit with strife for several months.

Prior to the state election campaign in July, speculation was rife that there were internal efforts to replace Chow as DAP's candidate for chief minister.

However, the party leadership ultimately endorsed Chow to return to office.

Penang DAP was then dealt another blow after several veteran state lawmakers - namely former deputy chief minister II P Ramasamy - were dropped from the party's election lineup.

This caused Ramasamy and his followers to quit DAP while launching broadsides against a purported "emperor" whom they accused of sidelining those aligned to Chow.

More recently, Ramasamy and others have been critical of a RM646 million land deal in Batu Kawan Industrial Park 2 - which Chow said would be addressed soon. - Mkini