DAP in a generation transition stage

Influential Selangor state executive councillor and popular DAP grassroots leader Ronnie Liu has been left out of the Selangor DAP committee when the names of five appointed member were announced. Instead, five relatively unknown persons have been appointed as committee members.

Ronnie, who failed to secure a place in the 15-member elected state committee during the state party elections on 28 November, was not named when Selangor DAP secretary Ean Yong Hian Wah announced the list of five appointed members after the new state committee met for the first time on Friday 10 December.

The new state committee under Selangor senior state executive councillor Teresa Kok has instead opted to co-opt five relatively unknown persons — Azman Masri, V. Ganabatirau, Lee Kee Hiong, Ang Leng Kiat and Lwi Kian Keong — as appointed committee members. With their appointments, the committee now comprises 20 members.

Following the decision to keep the veteran stalwart Ronnie out of the powerful state committee, his political future now hangs in the balance although he is still a member of the national executive committee.

It is quite obvious that the new young DAP leaders are ambitious and impatient to take overall control of the party, and veteran leaders like Ronnie are slowly being pushed out and stripped of their positions and power.

Prior to the first meeting of the new state committee, there has been an aggressive campaign via SMSs and e-mails to discredit Ronnie and to make sure he is not co-opted. I have also received an e-mail from a young smart alec who is an aide of a first-term state assembly member stating: “Don’t co-opt Sky Ball (the nickname of Ronnie) into committee”. Another message via SMS states that “Time to retire the old hack. Don’t appoint Ronnie”. There were also calls for Ronnie to be removed as a state executive councillor. It is quite obvious that some young first-term assembly members are eyeing his exco post.

Ronnie, meanwhile, was also issued a show-cause letter by the party discipinary committee over an interview in a news portal. He has been accused of implying that the party is involved in money politics.

If one were to read carefully the content of the intervew published by the news portal, Ronnie was merely issuing a warning about the danger of money politics creeping into the party. Instead of issuing a show-cause letter to Ronnie, the party leadership should appoint a task force to investigate the truth of the matter. The haste in which the show-cause letter is issued to Ronnie has given rise to speculations that some powerful young warlords in the central committee are out to get rid of him, and hence pressured the disciplinary committee to act against him.

The DAP is in danger of going the way of the MCA, with the chai tan (menu) list of preferred candidates, and the holding of dinners to woo supporters during party elections. The mushrooming of new branches to beef up the number of delegates to support the new young leaders is another unhealthy sign which the national leadership must put a stop to.

The arrogant and aloft behaviour of certain aides to the newly elected representatives, especially those appointed local councillors and given a little authority, is something the top party leaders may not be aware of. These young upstarts have an exaggerated sense of their own importance or abilities, and will not hesitate to throw their light weight around and flex their small political muscles to show off. The party must not allow such uncouth personnel to damage or even destroy its good name and image built and developed over the years.

Ronnie does not deserve to be treated in such a manner, given the fact that he has contributed almost his whole adult working life to the party cause, being a loyal, relaible and hard-working grassroots leader. Depriving him of a seat in the state committee is perhaps the most unkindest cut. His loss during the party elections was apparently engineered by the two contending factions which left him out of their respective line-ups. He is a victim of a wicked conspiracy to ostracize him from the party mainstream.

The new young leaders and elected representatives have inherited a party that is strong and prominent, and they should know, realise, understand and appreciate the fact that the party is what it is today is because of the struggle and sacrifice of the veteran stalwarts like Dr Chen Man Hin, Lim Kit Siang, Karpal Singh, Dr Tan Seng Giaw, the late P. Patto, the late V. David, the late Fan Yew Teng, and also people like Lim Guan Eng, Ronnie Liu, Chow Koon Yeow, Tan Kok Wai, Chong Eng, Teng Chang Khim, and many unsung heroes and heroines. Many of them had been detained under the ISA, with Guan Eng having been imprisoned as a common criminal for standing up for truth and justice.

Where were the new young leaders during Operation Lallang when Kit Siang, Karpal, Patto, Seng Giaw, Guan Eng, and many others went through hell under ISA detention? Those who were not detained went round the country to campaign for their release, risking arrests. I know because I was among those who organised the anti-ISA campaigns then. This is just one example, and there are many battles that the veterans fought to bring the party to what it is today.

The DAP is in a generation transition stage, and confusion and conflicts are bound to happen, especially when the ambitious and impatient young leaders are raving crazy to take charge. But, wait, the young leaders need to hold their horses and examine the terrain before riding on. The road to Putrajaya is paved with pitfalls and potholes, and reckless riding with nary a care for what lies ahead will surely bring disaster upon the party cause.

So, my advice to the DAP is that it should now go for a retreat to reflesh, review, renew, reform, and recharge for the big Battle of Putrajaya. Most importantly, the leaders must sort out the uneasy undercurrent relational conflict between the new young leaders and the veteran stalwarts. The capture of Putrajaya is not impossible, if the party is united. And Ronnie certainly has a role to play in the venture.