KUALA LUMPUR: Liew Chin Tong has confirmed that he will step down as the Johor DAP chairman after the upcoming party election. He is passing the torch to current state deputy chairman Teo Ni Ching.
"Both Ni Ching and I will contest to be one of the 15 members of the state committee. If both of us are elected, I will nominate her to be the new chairperson," Liew said when contacted by the New Straits Times.
When asked what he would do if others nominated him for the state party chairman post , Liew responded: "I will ask them to support Ni Ching."
Party delegates initially cast their votes to choose 15 state committee members in the DAP's party elections.
The members will then choose those from those among them who would become state chairman.
Liew, who is Iskandar Puteri member of parliament, affirmed that this transition marks a fresh chapter for Johor DAP.
When questioned whether other state committees would follow Johor DAP's move to have a women lead the state party, Liew declined to comment.
However, he noted that Teo would not be the first woman to hold a state chairman role.
"There was a state chair in Negri Sembilan who was a woman. Teresa Kok was state chair of Selangor," he added.
Teo is also the Kulai MP and Deputy Communications Minister. She had been previously the MP of Serdang until 2013.