Like UMNO, DAP is not prepared to train young leaders
The humiliating defeat of DAP secretary-general Encik Anthony Loke Siew Fook in the Negeri Sembilan state election should not simply be seen as an electoral setback. It should be remembered as the moment that finally exposed one of the party's oldest and least democratic habits: the insistence by its power brokers on contesting both Parliament and state assembly seats. For decades, DAP has justified this practice with the convenient excuse of “leadership continuity” or “strategic necessity”. In reality, it has become little more than a mechanism for concentrating power in the hands of a small political elite. No democratic party that genuinely believes in leadership renewal should tolerate the same individuals occupying multiple elected offices while hundreds of capable younger members wait indefinitely for an opportunity to serve. Every state seat monopolised by a federal heavyweight is one less chance for a new generation to gain legislative experience, prove themselves to voters...