ANALYSIS Although the national DAP leadership election this weekend is seen as rather "boring", with the focus being on the 13th general election that must be held within six months, it could well be a prelude to a "generation transition" of its leadership in the next party election in 2015.

The election for the DAP Socialist Youth (Dapsy) wing last weekend is seen as an alarming sign for the incumbents, for an "anti-establishment" wave surfaced, resulting in many Youth leaders holding posts, or having a close relationship with the top leaders, losing.

NONE Among the casualties were party secretary-general Lim Guan Eng's political secretary Ng Wei Aik ( right ), who lost his battle for national Youth secretary and Teratai assemblyperson Janice Lee, who lost the contest for Selangor Dapsy chief.

Selangor state executive councillor Ean Yong Hiah Wah opted not to fight for the post of deputy chief, giving way to his opponent, Loh Chee Heng from Kuala Lumpur, to win uncontested.

Although heavyweight leaders like Karpal Singh, Lim Kit Siang and Lim Guan Eng are still highly regarded by the younger party members, this does not mean their votes will go to those who are said to be aligned with these leaders.

The young have their own stands

The youngsters have their own stands and opinions as to who are fit to lead the party.

They look at the past records of the leaders, including their political ideology, competency, interpersonal relationship, speech skills and whether these leaders are active with the grassroots.

This similar trend also took place at PKR's 2010 leadership election, when the then little-known Rafizi Ramli and his running mates were forced to pull out from the Youth wing election after facing a backlash from the grassroots.

This was because Ramli and his team were seen as candidates with the backing of party de facto leader Anwar Ibrahim.

Although the youth leaders of the DAP were once ridiculed by others as "boy scouts" who are inexperienced in politics, this year's Dapsy election showed that the youth members are no longer dictated to by the whims and fancies of their leaders.

NONE The national leaders who will contesting in the party elections in Penang tomorrow could also face a similar examination from the delegates.

Any mistake could cost them their seats in the powerful central executive committee (CEC), as evidenced by Selangor state exco member Ronnie Liu's ( left ) loss in party election four years ago.

A total of 2,576 delegates will from noon tomorrow vote in the 20 CEC members they want for the next three years.

DAP national adviser Lim Kit Siang and his son Guan Eng won the highest votes in the last party elections, while Liu got into the 21st spot, which excluded him from the CEC.

Guan Eng's last term

Another factor in play for the leadership election is that the coming term will be the final one for Guan Eng to hold the powerful post of secretary-general, for the party constitution only allows a person to hold this post for three terms.

The three-year term for the DAP secretary-general was set by the party in 2003, during the Kerk Kim Hock era.

The result of the CEC election tomorrow will have a strong impact on the next party election, in 2015, which will see how much of an influence the younger generation can throw in.

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Strong speculation among the party delegates is that Guan Eng will, after his final term as secretary-general, take over as party chairman, with the secretary-general's post going to senior Selangor exco member Teresa Kok ( right ) or Rasah MP Anthony Loke.

Interestingly, both Kok and Loke belong to different generations in the party.

Kok, 48, is much more senior and has been with the DAP since 1990. She first won the Seputeh parliamentary seat in the 1999 general election and was appointed senior Selangor state executive councillor after the 2008 political tsunami.

Loke represents the "Young Turks" in the DAP who have risen up the ranks in the last 10 years. He became active in DAP in 2000 and was elected as Lobak assemblyman in 2004 and as Rasah MP in 2008.

He stepped down as Dapsy chief, during the recent elections for the wing, and is in tomorrow's contest for a CEC seat.

If the younger Loke is favoured to take over the secretary-general's post, this could well trigger a "generation transition", with the middle-aged leaders coming under pressure to give way to the younger leaders.

Hence, the incumbents, being in the older age group, could prefer Kok taking over as the secretary-general after 2015, so that she would serve as a "buffer" to delay this "generation transition".

However, this will not prevent any rejuvenation taking place within its ranks, as more and more young leaders have been rising to top party positions since the 2008 general election.