Penang or Kedah for Kit Siang?

Joceline Tan, The Star

LIM Kit Siang’s 76th birthday in February passed without fanfare unlike in the previous year when his family and guests threw him a grand birthday party.

The DAP leader looks in the pink of health having recovered from some eye problems a few years ago that required him to go everywhere in sunglasses.

The Gelang Patah MP has been going strong as evident from the fierce war of words that erupted between him and Ketereh MP Tan Sri Annuar Musa in Parliament.

Annuar accused Lim of being anti-Islam, a racist and a dictator while Lim labelled Annuar as the “father of racism”. Barely a week later, Annuar, 61, was in hospital after complaining of chest pains.

On the other hand, Lim, still bristling over the accusations, was in war mode. He held a press conference in the Parliament lobby to declare that he is a patriot and has more respect for the Malay race than Umno leaders, Umno ministers and Utusan Malaysia – his three favourite Malay whipping posts.

Lim is famous for his impassive demeanour and clinical commentary but recent months have found him lashing out in an unusually emotional manner and even losing his cool.

During a media conference to welcome Datuk Zaid Ibrahim into DAP, he lost his head and berated a TV reporter, causing the event to end suddenly but not before his new BFF Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad was caught on camera trying to hide his amusement.

Several of his blog postings have resembled rants rather than commentary.

What’s going on with Malaysia’s longest-surviving Parliamentarian? Political insiders claimed it is a sign that the grand old man of DAP is feeling the heat.

His secret plan to exit Gelang Patah has been blown wide open and his not-so-secret plan to return to Penang has had a so-so reception.

The good news is that Kedah DAP is eager to roll out the red carpet for him. They have asked him to contest in Alor Setar although it is currently held by PKR’s Gooi Hsiao Leung, whose father used to be a DAP bigwig and whose uncle is Tan Sri Dr Koh Tsu Koon.

It will not be the first time that he is taking over a PKR seat; Gelang Patah also used to belong to PKR.

Alor Setar is close enough to Penang for him to have one foot in each state. He can stimulate the DAP presence in Kedah while helping his son to hold the reins in Penang.

And who knows, if he and Dr Mahathir join forces in Kedah, they may create a wave of change. But just a word of caution there – the sight of Lim and Dr Mahathir leading the Pakatan Harapan campaign in Kedah may also result in a backlash and send the Malays running in the opposite direction.

Those familiar with Lim’s political moves say the Kedah thing may be a distraction tactic to take the attention away from his impending return to Penang.

Lim’s nomadic habit used to be hailed as a strategic move to enable the party to make inroads in certain states.

But the party has yet to come up with a convincing narrative on why he needs to return to Penang. Does Penang, which is a sure-win for DAP, need two Lims around?

It would be quite awkward having Kit Siang and Lim Guan Eng contesting in the same state amid talk that his youngest daughter is also a potential candidate. It would further fuel the perception of a Lim Dynasty and deliver an additional bullet to the opposition in Penang.

Kit Siang is Malaysia’s most seasoned politician – he has, as they say, been there, done that.

He is the only politician who has contested in five different states in a political career that has spanned 51 years.

He has also contested a staggering total of 11 parliamentary seats and eight state seats since 1969 and the amazing thing is that he lost only five of those battles.

Many of the contests were also portrayed as do-or-die fights to save Malaysia from one calamity or another.

In fact, a large number of them were to save Malaysia from then Prime Minister Dr Mahathir who was painted as a dictator running a corrupt and oppressive regime but that was then.

No politician in Malaysian history has that type of record. It is safe to say that no one else will ever achieve anything like that again because the travelling circus formula is so out of sync with modern politics.

Kit Siang has not discussed his future plans at any of the party meetings. He has avoided questions about it except to say that Gelang Patah will be his first choice but that he is prepared to consider other constituencies for strategic reasons.

MCA deputy president Datuk Seri Dr Wee Ka Siong has likened the DAP leader’s rationale to a weather report – if it does not rain, it will be sunny and if it is sunny, there will be no rain.

There have been all kinds of speculation over why he is planning to take off from Gelang Patah. Some claimed he is not confident of retaining the seat, which is absurd because he won with a majority of almost 15,000 votes in 2013.

Those familiar with Kit Siang’s habit of springing surprises warn of a likelihood that he may go for a more challenging seat, namely, Johor Baru.

That would be interesting because Johor Baru MP Tan Sri Shahrir Samad is adamant about retiring and has been grooming Johan Ropi, a smart, happening Malay entrepreneur, to take over. Johan, 36, is different from the typical Umno product. He is also the brains behind Kilang Bateri, a lifestyle mall in Tampoi and CEO of a training institute.

Kit Siang is preparing to make another strategic move and Zaid is a potential candidate to take over in Gelang Patah

The opinion in DAP is that Kit Siang wants to be in Penang to hold the party together while Guan Eng concentrates on his corruption trial.

His presence at a variety of state government events in Penang has led to speculation that he may be playing a big role in the state after he wins.

He has been seen in Penang more frequently than in his own constituency, and posters with his picture were recently seen in parts of Gelang Patah asking: “Have you seen Kit Siang? Male, Chinese, aged 76”.

His detractors have labelled him a “Touch n Go” and a “hit-and-run” politician.

Kit Siang owes an explanation to Gelang Patah voters who took a leap of faith in choosing him over their former Mentri Besar Tan Sri Ghani Othman.

Contesting in Johor was a strategic move by Kit Siang to bring down the Umno fortress.

Why is he then not focusing his strategic clout in Johor where DAP has 13 assemblymen and four MPs? Does this mean that Kit Siang has given up on Johor?

According to Labis MP Chua Tee Yong, politics in Johor can be quite fluid because Johoreans are quite well-informed about issues.

The MCA politician admitted that the recent housing and land scandal implicating a state exco member was an explosive issue in the state but Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Khaled Nordin handled it well. The state exco member Datuk Abd Latiff Bandi was immediately ordered to go on leave and his portfolio was assigned to someone else.

“I don’t see Johor falling. It is in good hands – a budget surplus for seven straight years and record-breaking reserves of RM3bil. Johor’s foreign direct investment since 2013 has been the highest in the country,” said Chua.

Johor DAP chairman and Kluang MP Liew Chin Tong has been talking about a Malay tsunami that will sweep Pakatan to power in Johor and elsewhere.

His party has won almost all the Chinese-majority seats in Johor. Liew knows that the Malay seats have to fall before Johor can fall and that is why he is trying to convince everyone there will be a Malay tsunami.

But where is the Malay wave going to come from with PAS out of the picture? Recent surveys suggest that Malay support for DAP is in reverse gear, at barely 10%.

Just a few days ago, Datuk Dr Mahfodz Mohamad, a Johorean and PAS Dewan Ulamak chief, declared that DAP is “anti-Islam” and that is why it does not like PAS.

So who is going to bring on the Malay tsunami in Johor? Certainly not Dr Mahathir who is persona non grata with the Johor palace and who has been flayed by the Sultan of Johor.

It looks like the Malay tsunami is resting on the shoulders of Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, who is president of Parti Pribumi.

The reality is that every single one of the Pakatan parties are banking on another Chinese tsunami to survive.

Another issue for DAP has to do with their potential candidate in Gelang Patah. Zaid is believed to have joined DAP on the understanding that he will take over from Kit Siang. He has since done a book launch in Skudai to make his presence felt.

Apparently, Zaid’s candidature is not a done deal yet. The former Umno/PKR politician is a big name but comes with a lot of baggage. There are some misgivings about him among a few top level DAP leaders. They are not sure if he is here to stay or whether he can toe the line in this rather hierarchical party. But if Kit Siang insists on him, who would dare object?

Back in 2013, Kit Siang and Dr Mahathir were sparring like aged gladiators. Dr Mahathir, who was campaigning for Barisan in Johor, said Kit Siang wanted to bring change but should change himself because he had been around too long. He asked the people to crush Kit Siang and “make this his last day in politics”.

That got under Kit Siang’s skin and he challenged Dr Mahathir to contest against him in Gelang Patah and let the people decide who they wanted to bury.

Well, all that is now in the past. They are now on the same side and they want to bury Barisan and Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak.

Things have really come full circle.