Eyes turn to next Penang CM

September 11, 2024

KUALA LUMPUR – IT is never easy to step away from the pinnacle of power but Penang Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow took that difficult step when he decided not to defend his post as state chairman in the DAP election.

It was big news in Penang because the state chairmanship is equated with the Chief Minister post and it meant that Chow is now one foot out of the door.

His party secretary-general Anthony Loke has assured him that this will not affect his tenure as Chief Minister. It was another attempt to quash rumours that Chow could be replaced mid-term.

The two-term limit on the Chief Minister post meant that Chow had entered the “lame duck period” in the top job and the latest development prompted a journalist to conclude that, “the lame duck is as good as a dead duck”.

The mild-mannered Chow, although originally from Kuala Lumpur, has been a fixture in Penang politics since the 1990s and has held the state chairman for the past 25 years. His party colleagues expressed shock and disappointment although a few of them came across as lacking sincerity.

There is speculation that Chow was pressured not to contest the election on Sept 22 or the “922 election” as it is known in the party.

The official reason is that he is making way for the new echelon to lead and defend the party in the next general election.

But it is public knowledge that Chow has been under a variety of pressure from politicians as well as businessmen aligned to his predecessor Lim Guan Eng. There was even an attempt to oust him as Chief Minister in the run-up to last year’s state election.

Tensions between Chow and Guan Eng have become something of a source of entertainment for Penangites who say that Guan Eng is a fiercer opposition