Term Limit Culture Emerging With Veteran Dap Trio S Exit Says Analyst

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DAP veterans Tan Kok Wai, Fong Kui Lun and Phee Boon Poh have decided not to seek re-election to the party’s central executive committee next month.
PETALING JAYA: The decision of three veterans – Tan Kok Wai, Fong Kui Lun and Phee Boon Poh – not to seek re-election at the upcoming DAP elections may signal the emergence of an unofficial term limit for leadership positions in the party, says an analyst.
Political scientist Wong Chin Huat of Sunway University said the decision went beyond merely pressuring party chairman Lim Guan Eng to vacate his position.
It also appears to be the start of a new political culture in DAP, he said.
Wong said DAP already has a three-term limit in place for the post of secretary-general. Penang, the party’s crown jewel, is also the only state which prescribes that a chief minister cannot serve more than two terms, he added.


“While there is no term limit for the national chairman, DAP leaders across generations appear eager to establish a culture of voluntary retirement for senior leaders,” he told FMT.
However, Wong said it was clear that the trio also want Lim to step aside.
He said Tan, a party adviser and its former chairman, was only three years Lim’s senior.
“It would make a particularly strong contrast if Lim chooses to defend his chairman position. After all, Lim has been to the highest position any DAP leader has been, not just serving as party secretary-general, but even as the finance minister.
“If you have been to the top, why stay on and not give way to others? That’s the subtle message the trio has made in support of generational renewal (within the party),” he said.
On Wednesday, Tan, seven-term MP Fong and Phee, a former Penang executive councillor, announced their withdrawal from next month’s election to the party’s central executive committee (CEC).
In a joint statement, Tan and Fong said they wanted to make way for a new generation to take on pivotal leadership roles in the party.
In a separate announcement, Phee said he was withdrawing his candidacy despite being nominated.
He also implied that Lim should not seek to be re-elected, saying that while the contributions of the DAP chairman and his family were indisputable, other veteran members have made similar sacrifices.
Phee also said veteran leaders must allow the next generation to take over leadership of the party with a “clean slate”.
Tan and Fong, the current DAP treasurer, have been mainstays on the CEC throughout Lim’s tenure as secretary-general.
Phee was an executive councillor during Lim’s two terms as Penang chief minister.
Akademi Nusantara’s Azmi Hassan agreed that Lim was implicitly being told to step down. However, he said the trio’s greater motivation was to allow new blood to assume leadership.
“DAP is losing the support of their core supporters, including the Chinese voters,” he said, adding that this was plainly obvious from their low turnout at the Sungai Bakap by-election in Penang, which Pakatan Harapan lost.
“They’re saying that DAP needs new blood.” - FMT

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