Can Lim Guan Eng survive tomorrow’s party elections?
LIM Guan Eng, once DAP’s towering figure, faces mounting pressure as the party’s March 16 central executive committee election looms, echoing a past effort to ease him out.
In 2022, before the last party polls, seven elite leaders – dubbed the “G7” – independently urged Lim to relinquish the chairmanship. Comprising four state chairpersons and three former ministers or deputy ministers, these former allies, concerned over his Penang undersea tunnel court case, argued his exit would bolster DAP and Pakatan Harapan’s broader strategy.
Despite heated, sometimes confrontational talks that severed ties, Lim stood firm, revealing early rifts.
Fast forward to 2025, DAP secretary-general Anthony Loke Siew Fook is said to have recently met Lim, pressing him to step aside amid the “God’s downfall” narrative – a nod to his fading dominance. This follows a turbulent period: during the 2023 Penang state election,
Lim’s assertive tactics sidelined Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow’s faction, sparking a public fallout. His ally Tan Sri Tan Kok Ping even sued Chow, hinting at Liim’s influence.
According to Sin Chew Daily, in last year’s Penang DAP election, Loke backed the “Sim-Lim pair” (Steven Sim and Lim Hui Ying), yet results favoured Sim’s faction, with Hui Ying sliding from fourth to 12th, signalling Guan Eng’s waning grip.
Objectively, his influence is declining, yet Lim remains a rare DAP voice on thorny issues like religion and education, muted by others under the unity government’s harmony mandate.
In 2022, Tan Kok Wai shifted from chairman to adviser – a path Guan Eng could take to preserve his family’s legacy while staying vocal. However, clinging to the chairman’s role, with its candidate selection power, risks clashing with Loke and Nga Kor Ming’s “golden decade” vision, potentially derailing DAP’s national ambitions as past and present pressures collide. — March 15, 2025
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His ego (conceit) won't allow him to let go
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