DAP polls: Gobind bags most votes; Guan Eng in, Hui Ying, Teresa out

Summary

• Digital Minister Gobind Singh Deo grabs the most votes in the DAP CEC election while Lim Guan Eng squeezes in at 26th place.

• Guan Eng’s sister, Hui Ying, fails to make the CEC, while incumbent secretary-general Anthony Loke comes in fifth.

Digital Minister Gobind Singh Deo has bagged the most votes in the DAP central executive committee (CEC) election with 2,785 votes.

Gobind is believed to have been a compromise candidate whose name was on the voting list for all factions.

Incumbent DAP secretary-general Anthony Loke came in fifth with 2,508 votes.

Incumbent DAP chairperson Lim Guan Eng was in 26th place with 1,719 votes.

Returning officer Desmond Tan’s announcement of Guan Eng’s vote count was greeted with audible sounds of disappointment and surprise from those gathered at the Ideal Convention Centre in Shah Alam, Selangor.

Guan Eng fell 18 places from 8th place in the previous CEC election.

‘Deity send-off’

Speculations surrounding a purported internal move to remove Guan Eng had intensified in recent weeks, dubbed the “deity send-off” movement, referring to his infamous “tokong” moniker.

His sister, Deputy Finance Minister Lim Hui Ying, fell just short of getting elected into the 30-member CEC, coming in at 31st place with 1,573 votes.

She was edged out for the 30th spot by Beruas MP Ngeh Khoo Ham with 1,584 votes.

The declining number of votes received by Guan Eng and Hui Ying signal the potential end of the so-called “Lim dynasty” within DAP.

It also signals the growing power of the faction headed by Loke and his right-hand man, Housing and Local Governance Minister Nga Kor Ming.

Three MPs out

Others not elected this time include Seputeh MP Teresa Kok, Kepong MP Lim Lip Eng, Jelutong MP RSN Rayer, and incumbents Vincent Wu and Thomas Su.

Bangi MP Syahredzan Johan and Bentong MP Young Syefura Othman, who both ascended to the Dewan Rakyat in the last general election, also made it into the CEC.

Newcomers include Loke’s political secretary Arul Kumar Jambunathan, Liow Cai Tung, Gobind’s brother Ramkarpal Singh, Vivian Wong, and Puchong MP Yeo Bee Yin.

About 3,342 delegates, or 79.5 percent of all delegates, cast 3,326 votes for the CEC today.

Around 296 votes were spoiled, while one ballot was not returned.

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