PENANG DAP chairman Chow Kon Yeow said the party’s national candidate selection committee had dropped some incumbents and added new names to the list of those who will contest in the Penang elections on August 12.

Nomination day is tomorrow.

The decision has caused internal strife for the state DAP and led some of the dropped candidates to question whether there are hidden hands seeking to take control of the party and state.

“There were names who were not proposed but were selected, and thus, led to dissatisfaction,” Chow was quoted as saying in Malay Mail Online during a press conference in George Town today.

Chow, who is the caretaker chief minister and Penang Pakatan Harapan chairman, also explained the party’s selection process. 

“The state committee has its own candidate selection committee where we conduct interviews of candidates proposed by the branches,” he said.

He said the five-member state-level selection committee finalised the candidates’ list before submitting it to the national-level authority for approval.

“After it was submitted, I was invited to table the list and give any clarification, if needed,” he said.

He said the national candidate selection committee considered the list and made the final decision on who would be fielded. This was announced by party secretary-general Anthony Loke on Tuesday.

Chow added that he was not part of the national-level committee.

“The five-member national selection committee consisted of the national chairman (Lim Guan Eng), deputy national chairman (Gobind Singh), vice-chairmen Nga Kor Ming and K. Kulasegaran, and secretary-general Anthony Loke,” he added.

In a recent announcement, five former state excos were dropped from the list while seven new candidates were fielded.

Those dropped were deputy chief minister P. Ramasamy, DAP Wanita chief Chong Eng, Phee Boon Poh, Yeoh Soon Hin, and Soon Lip Chee.

Former Bagan Dalam assemblyman M. Satees and Pulau Tikus assemblyman Chris Lee Chun Kit were also dropped, but Lee cited health reasons for withdrawing his candidacy. – July 28, 2023.