Monday, November 29, 2010

Teresa, the new head of Selangor DAP

The Unity team looks to have maintained its hold on Selangor DAP's state committee, bagging seven of the 15 seats up for grabs in their just-concluded state polls today.

However, failing to make it to the top 15 is controversial Selangor executive councillor Ronnie Liu, who was embroiled in a case involving the issuance of support letters earlier this year.

dap selangor convention 281110 teresa kok votingThe key players in the Unity team - Teresa Kok, outgoing chairperson Ean Yong Hian Wah, Tony Pua, Gobind Singh Deo, Lau Weng San, Teo Nie Ching and Tiew Way Keng - all made it through albeit occupying the lower strata of the voting tally.

This presents an interesting dichotomy for the newly elected committee, as it is unlikely that Kok, who leads the Unity team, would be well received as the new chairperson by virtue of finishing a distant 11th with 437 votes.

selangor dap convention 281110 teng chang kim meeting delegatesIn terms of seniority, the most obvious choice would be Selangor state assembly speaker Teng Chang Khim who finished fourth with 504 votes, but even that would be a tough proposition as the Rainbow team only managed five seats overall.

What is likely to happen however is that the 'independent' candidates will be co-opted by the winning faction, as usually is the case, to tip the power balance more in the victors' favour.

The top-three candidates on the votes tally unsurprisingly went to 'independent' candidates who did not align themselves with either of the feuding teams going into the Sunday polls.

Non-aligned candidates on top

The delegates' voting habits changed little as their penchant for 'neutral' candidates translated to a strong tally of 703 votes for Teratai state assemblyperson Jenice Lee, who topped the list of winners.

Subang Jaya state assemblyperson Hannah Yeoh also remained popular with the delegates, garnering 644 votes while former water activist turned Klang MP Charles Santiago was a comfortable third with 596 votes.

The top-five was rounded up by Rainbow team leader Teng in fourth place with 504 votes followed by his teammate Ng Suee Lim who earned 498 votes to finish fifth.

The rest of the Rainbow team who made it through claimed the last three spots on the committee - Ramakrishnan Suppiah (13th place, 405 votes), Lim Soon Hong (14th, 403) and T Kannan (15th, 402).

There were at least three high-profile casualties in the polls, not least being Liu who finished a distant 21st plce with 369 votes.

Also tumbling out of the race were Kajang councillor Lee Kee Hiong who managed only 308 votes in 26th place, and Teluk Datuk assemblyperson Philip Tan Choon Swee who finished in 34th place with just 34 votes.

Liu's position secure

dap selangor convention 281110 teng chang kim ronnie liu lining upIn an immediate reaction to the results, Kok said that Liu's position as a Selangor exco is not in danger despite losing badly in this state party polls.

"His position as exco is with the Selangor government. It is unrelated (to his loss)... (but) I think he knows why he lost," she said.

Meanwhile, Teng claimed moral victory for his Rainbow team.

The 15 successful candidates immediately held a meeting with members from both factions to choose their leaders for the next two years.

After about 30 minutes, the newly-elected committee members agreed to appoint Kok as DAP Selangor's new chairperson.

selangor dap election 281110 teresa kok interviewIt was again a close call however, with Teng telling journalists that the vote went only eight to seven in favour of Kok.

Kok (left) side-stepped further questions, however, by saying that the 15-member vote was secret.

The veteran politician will be supported by Pua (above, on left) as her deputy, while Teng and Charles will serve as the state DAP's two vice-chairs for the next two years.

Kok declined to comment on whether she has sufficient mandate from the delegates to serve as the new chairperson, but stressed that it is more important to look at the team as a whole rather than on each candidate's polls performance.

"It's a good team. The results show that those who do their jobs will get elected.

"We are now looking at closing ranks to get ready for the next general elections," she said after the polls.

Yong, who is the immediate past chairperson, will now serve as committee secretary and is assisted by Ng as assistant secretary, while Yeoh is the committee's new treasurer.

Organising secretary is Lau and assisted by Teo, while Lee is the new publicity secretary and assisted by Lim.

The task of political education director has gone to Tiew while the remaining three - Gobind, Ramakrishnan and Kannan - fill in the three committee members posts.

Selangor DAP committee members

1) Jenice Lee (Independent), 703 votes
2) Hannah Yeoh (Independent), 644
3) Charles Santiago (Independent), 596
4) Teng Chang Khim (Rainbow), 504
5) Ng Suee Lim (Rainbow), 498
6) Ean Yong Hian Wah (Unity), 478
7) Gobind Singh (Unity), 478
8) Tony Pua (Unity), 463
9) Lau Weng San (Unity), 459
10) Teo Nie Ching (Unity), 452
11) Teresa Kok (Unity), 437
12) Tiew Way Keng (Unity), 428
13) S Ramakrishnan (Rainbow), 405
14) Lim Soo Hong (Rainbow), 403
15) T Kannan (Rainbow), 402

[Source: Mkini]

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