Chow Kon Yeow, Chief Minister Lim’s Guan Eng 'natural choice' to replace him as chief minister, was startled when asked, “Why is it necessary to have a Chinese CM for Penang? Why not a Malay or Indian?”

The question came up because since Merdeka, there have been four Penang chief ministers, all of whom were Chinese.

They were Wong Pow Nee (1957 to 1969), Lim Chong Eu (1969 to 1990), Koh Tsu Koon (1990 to 2008) and currently Lim, who took office after the 12th national polls on March 8 in 2008.

“I am surprised you asked this question,” shot back the Penang DAP chief, who is also the Padang Kota assemblyman.

“I want to invite Malaysiakini readers to look at anyone who is the CM of Penang, to look at his capability as a politician, who enjoys the mandate of the people, that he has a good character with the ability to govern, rather than him solely being Chinese,” Chow said, in an exclusive interview with Malaysiakini.

He was also asked if insisting on a Chinese CM was due to the DAP’s commitment to the community’s grassroots who turned against BN and voted for the party, or was it to maintain DAP’s role as a political vessel of the Chinese in Malaysia.

The state executive councillor in charge of local government, traffic management and flood mitigation replied that DAP has always aspired to be a Malaysian party, and has representatives from all ethnic groups.

DAP’s first election foray in 1969 also boasted of Malay candidates, who went on to win the polls, he noted.

“Of course the numbers are not great, but over the years, there have been assemblypersons in some of states, like an MP for Penang. But that aside, it is party principles that matter,” Chow said, when met at his office in Komtar.

“We don't campaign on racial lines. Our track record is there to be scrutinised,” he added.

Chow said the perception that DAP is a Chinese-centric party came about probably because the party had mostly contested in urban areas where Chinese and Indians form the majority.

Larger coalition

However, the party has always wanted to be in a larger coalition, and since the 80s, DAP has always linked up with like-minded parties who could reach out to sectors of the population which its leaders were unable to do so themselves.

DAP has had working relationships with Semangat 46, led by Gua Musang MP Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah. The party had also joined Pakatan Rakyat with PKR and former ally, PAS.

After its break-up with PAS last June over the party’s insistence on implementing hudud, DAP has teamed up with PKR and PAS splinter, Parti Amanah Negara.

“We have always been in a bigger family to overcome our weaknesses and restrictions, but over the years, we have also been able to attract Malay members into the party and we don't intend to stop there.

“We still want to grow our party to be recognised one day as a full fledged Malaysian party, and I think no party can say they are more multiracial in terms of people’s representatives,” he said.

Despite all its efforts to lure non-Chinese members into the party, and in spite of ruling in a coalition with PKR, and one lone PAS assemblyman in Penang, DAP is often seen as the “dominant party”.

Because of this perception, there is bound to be some anxiety felt among Malays, especially after its break-up with PAS, a Malay Muslim dominant party.

This was especially evident when the state government sacked PAS members from the Penang Island City Council and several other state agencies, as the party was no longer part of the state administration when it was renamed “Pakatan Harapan government” in September last year.

The formation of Amanah, led by former PAS deputy chief Mohamed Sabu, did nothing to overturn the perception. Instead the Islamic leader, better known as Mat Sabu, was labelled as “DAP’s lackey” for supporting the party’s views.

In the 2008 and 2013 national polls, DAP contested 19 out of the 40 seats in Penang, winning all, while PKR contested 16, winning nine and 10 respectively, while PAS contested five, and won only one seat in both elections.

'Formidable Malay partners'

Chow said DAP would not be able to rule Penang on its own because of the number of seats the party contests.

He said the DAP cannot survive without formidable Malay partners, whether it is PKR, Amanah, or PAS in the past.

“This is the political reality in Penang, although we won the most number of seats, those seats do not guarantee us the mandate to rule on our own and we do not intend to do so,” Chow said.

“That is why the number of seats we contest signify the fact that on our own, we won’t be able to rule Penang and that is why we offer ourselves as a member in a coalition, with Malay based parties that can gain Malay support,” he added.

Chow was also reminded about its opponents viewing DAP as Chinese variant of Umno - that it is often seen as “arrogant and bossy, expecting others to bow its demands”.

In dismissing this view vehemently, Chow replied “If that is so, we would be facing snap polls now in Penang.”

DAP had to abandon the idea of snap polls, to seek a fresh mandate after the chief minister was slapped with two graft charges in June, when PKR rejected the idea.

The party was also not willing to give up two of its seats to PKR, who feared losing in Malay majority areas, due to the backlash of PAS, who had severed ties with DAP.

“If the perception is some individuals (are arrogant and cocky), then maybe it could be true, but the party as a whole, for the past 50 years, has stood up for the people.

“We gain strength from the people, we cannot be betraying the trust of people. The conduct of a few individuals, if any, should not be taken as representing the party as a whole,” Chow said.

Asked if his boss, Guan Eng, the bold and fiery CM who has ruled Penang with a steely determination since 2008, were among the few individuals he mentioned earlier, Chow shot back: “I am sure you don't mean him, and I don't mean him”.

Tomorrow: DAP, the “Developers Action Party?”

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