Opinion
Sunday February 11, 2007

Stage for a big battle

By JOCELINE TAN

joceline@thestar.com.my

The grand battle this general election will be in Penang as DAP’s Lim Guan Eng prepares to team up with Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim of Keadilan to take advantage of what they see as the season of discontent.

THE Year of the Dog has not been all that pleasant for Tan Sri Dr Koh Tsu Koon. It has been full of challenges for him, some of which undermined his image as Penang Chief Minister.

But the Dog Year is coming to an end. Will the Year of the Boar be more auspicious for Dr Koh?

Not if the general election is called this year and more so if the DAP goes ahead with its most ambitious political design on Penang since 1995.

As many in Penang would know by now, the DAP and Parti Keadilan Rakyat are planning to gang up against Barisan Nasional in one of those “lawan tetap lawan” fights this general election.

The DAP campaign will be led by secretary-general Lim Guan Eng while Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim will spearhead Keadilan.

The hook-up between the two parties may sound a bit like rojak at this stage but then rojak is a popular snack in Penang.

Guan Eng, the eldest son of DAP icon Lim Kit Siang, has yet to confirm his intention but top party figures suggest it is as good as on.

“Nothing has been decided yet but the grand battle will be in Penang and he has to be there,” said a DAP leader from Kuala Lumpur.

Penang is the state to watch in the general election. And no one seemed more worried than Dr Koh, who is in his 17th year as Chief Minister.

According to the Chinese vernacular Sin Chew Daily, he described the DAP’s bid for Penang as “seh mor” (Hokkien slang word meaning “trying to be funny”.)

Dr Koh also slammed the DAP as power-crazy. He said he was not going to waste time thinking about politics but if the DAP wanted to play politics, it was their business.

”He sounded really annoyed,” said Penang DAP chief Chow Kon Yeow.

Dr Koh has privately told party colleagues that the DAP threat is nothing new, that the DAP tries to take on Gerakan and the MCA every general election.

“We’ve gone through it before and we’re prepared to face it again,” said state exco member Teng Chang Yeow.

Still, Dr Koh has every reason to be annoyed. The Gerakan deputy president is in a political transition of his own.

He is scheduled to move into the driver’s seat of his party by the middle of this year when Datuk Seri Dr Lim Yak Yaik steps aside as president. That means he will be juggling with an additional portfolio.

But his dilemma revolves around a couple of questions to which he has no answer as yet.

The first involves his own future, whether he will move on to a federal seat and eventually assume the Cabinet post allocated to Gerakan. The answer is not in his hand.

The second concerns the candidate to take over as Chief Minister. Dr Koh has his own preference but unfortunately he does not have the last say.

“He is unable to determine his own game plan,” said Chow.

These questions have to be settled before Barisan can face the voters with confidence.

“We cannot go to war and say that the CM’s post will be decided after the battle is won,” said Teng.

The transition issues are just added fuel for the opposition.

Opportunistic moment

The DAP is essentially banking on the Chinese mood of discontent over a variety of issues ranging from race and religion to economic prospects.

The straw that broke the camel’s back was apparently the racist rhetoric at the Umno general assembly.

“Youth wing members were shouting and banging the table, and they are supposed to be the post-NEP generation. It was alarming; we worry about what is to come,” said a young Chinese academic.

Dr Koh, despite his clean image, is part of the problem.

Phee: ‘Tsu Koon is my friend but politics is politics’
He has overstayed his welcome and no matter what his supporters claim about his track record, the perception is that he has not delivered as well as expected and, worse, that he kowtows to Umno.

Add up all these factors and the scenario is “an opportunistic moment for the DAP”, said one Penang corporate figure.

There have been only two such moments for the DAP in Penang – in 1986 and again in 1990 when they came closest to realising their dream.

The DAP generally does better at parliamentary than state level, a phenomenon that has been attributed to the kiasu attitude of Penang people. They don’t mind a strong opposition in Parliament but prefer Barisan to run the state.

Can the DAP with the help of Anwar break through the kiasu mentality?

“Mathematically, it’s possible for us to win well,” said DAP’s Chow.

Half of the 40 state seats have more than 60% Chinese voters and the remaining three have more or less even numbers of Malays and non-Malays.

The DAP has its eye on these seats now held mainly by Gerakan and the MCA. The Malay-majority seats held by Umno, and largely on the mainland, are pretty safe.

The DAP is hoping that Guan Eng’s Penang debut will provide the wow-factor and that Anwar, even if he is barred from contesting, will lend that charismatic push among the Malays in the 20 or so Chinese-majority seats.

Everything looks good on paper but experience has shown how conservative, even fearful, the Penang middle-class can be when it comes to taking risks in politics.

It explains why some DAP leaders are talking about capturing Penang “over two elections” in order not to alarm voters.

“Tsu Koon has to risk confronting the federal leadership over issues like public transport. He has to tell them if they don’t do something about it, we are going to lose big,” said senior Gerakan figure Datuk Dr S.P. Choong.

One of those really looking forward to the big push is Phee Boon Poh, the DAP’s sole assemblyman in Penang.

It will put an end to the Sungai Puyu assemblyman’s “Lone Ranger” status although he often tells people he is not exactly alone and that he has his “tonto” in PAS assemblyman Subri Mohd Arshad.

“Tsu Koon is a good friend of mine and I have a soft spot for him. But politics is politics and we’re going to give him the fight of a lifetime,” said Phee.