00:00The apparent strife within DAP ahead of upcoming party elections
00:06stems from discord between the party's veterans and its younger leaders,
00:10says a political analyst.
00:13University of Tasmania's James Chin said a younger faction of up-and-coming leaders
00:18is pushing for DAP to shut its opposition image and attract Malay support.
00:24Chin said the intergenerational clash was not ideological
00:28but lies between those who believe DAP can no longer operate with an opposition mindset
00:33and those who still see the party as a check-and-balance force.
00:38Chin said this push for change has led to calls for DAP chairman Lim Guan Eng
00:43to be ousted from the Central Executive Committee in next month's party polls.
00:47On Monday, DAP veteran Esni Labikin claimed that deep state actors,
00:52influenced by external forces, were trying to reshape the party to please Malay voters,
00:58who are believed to favour a more moderate leader.
01:01Chin added that if Lim were to fall down the pecking order in DAP,
01:05his successor as party secretary-general, Lok Siu Fook,
01:09would be propped up as DAP's face in the next general election.
01:13Meanwhile, Asro Hadi Abdullah Sani of ADA Southeast Asia
01:17does not think DAP will let its rank-and-file members elect the party's leadership
01:22purely to appeal to the Malays.
01:24He said while the party has been working hard at diversifying its support base,
01:29DAP members are unlikely to vote solely based on a leader's popularity among the community.
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