No End To Party Turmoil
Segambut member of parliament Lim Lip Eng (centre) is escorted out of the Sunway Pyramid Convention Centre over a shouting incident.
By Shanker Ganesh
As the curtain came down on the most divisive elections ever in Selangor DAP, it is clear that the party was going through turmoil that threatens its goal of reaching Putrajaya.
With hostilities breaking out among factions, to the extent that some cannot even look at each other in the face, the future for Selangor DAP looks bleak if members cannot close ranks. The elections yesterday did nothing to resolve this as the results showed that both teams virtually commanded the support of the delegates in equal measure.
Although the problems in Selangor had been simmering for quite some time, it did not reach the level it is today as the party was quick to resolve them. But things started spiralling out of control when influential party member Tee Boon Hock was sacked. Many have described it as the straw that broke the camel's back.
Party members have tolerated most of the problems and weaknesses among its leaders but when the party leadership decided to sack Tee, all hell broke loose.
Without this one incident, attendance at yesterday's convention would barely have seen 300 out of the more than 1,000 delegates.
The hall was filled to the brim in the morning the majority left after voting. It was clear that delegates were only interested in making their stand on the Tee issue.
Even the debates in the afternoon were dominated by Tee's sacking.
What this demonstrated was that personal ambitions of one or two leaders in Selangor had taken centre stage and that was the main problem. It is well-known that both Teng Chang Khim and Ronnie Liu had been at logger-heads for a long time and the national leadership's attempt to diffuse this by bringing in Teresa Kok to Selangor did not work.
Instead, the divide became bigger.
Teng is constantly viewed as a challenger to party secretary-general Lim Guan Eng at the national level and many attempts have been made to sideline him. Each time, it has been unsuccessful as Teng miraculously survived all attempts to silence him.
Described as a cat with nine lives, Teng has always fought as a lone ranger but at least this time he has seven out of 15 people in the central committee on his side.
Even though some see Teng as the losing side in this election, he has now vowed to bring his revolution to all states and this may be the start of more trouble for DAP.
Although Selangor was previously seen as a strong base for Lim, Teng has managed to change that and now threatens to do so nationwide.
If successful, he may even change the party at the national level by relaxing the perceived father-and-son (Lim Kit Siang-Lim Guan Eng) iron grip on DAP.
The implication for Selangor DAP has now taken national proportions and it would be wise for Kok, who is the new Selangor DAP chairman, and her team not to sideline Teng anymore.
However, all hope may not be lost for Selangor DAP as Liu has been eliminated and with that, one of the most contentious points in Selangor could be resolved. Many of the party problems are said to have stemmed from Liu and the pressure will now mount on Kok to deal with him.
Despite being an executive councillor, Liu has now lost his standing and it is widely perceived that Liu was the one who got Tee into trouble.
While Teng's future doesn't look too rosy, Kok will also not have an easy time. The elections have also brought about allegations never heard of before in the party.
As results were being read out, several party members cried out that money politics played a big role in turning members to the other faction.
"This is so dirty. How can this happen in our party?" asked a disappointed delegate. - New Straits Times
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