BUTTERWORTH: Penang DAP chairman Chow Kon Yeow was not involved in the final choice of candidates in the state.
Instead, it was done by a five-man panel comprising central executive committee members, Chow, who is also the caretaker Chief Minister, said.
Chow said several names proposed by the state as candidates went missing from the final list, leading to dissatisfaction in Penang.
To add to the problems, some of the selected candidates had not been proposed by the state.
“There were names proposed by the state that were not selected, and some selected were not proposed by the state, hence the dissatisfaction,” he said, adding that he was not involved in the final selection process.
Instead, the state leadership presented a list to the party’s central executive committee’s candidate selection committee, and the final decision was announced by secretary-general Anthony Loke.
“The five-man committee at the highest level consisted of the national chairman (Lim Guan Eng), deputy chairman (Gobind Singh Deo), vice-chairmen Nga Kor Ming and M. Kulasegaran, as well as the secretary-general (Anthony Loke).
“The decision was made by the central executive committee. I was not part of it,” he told reporters yesterday.
Chow said the state leadership had earlier formed a five-man committee to select candidates.
“We conducted interview sessions with incumbents and potential candidates. A recommended list of candidates was then submitted to the party’s central leadership. After handing it over, I was invited to provide an explanation, if any,” he added.
As for members who were not fielded to defend their seats, Chow said they had not been sacked.
