Anyone contesting in the DAP elections must be nominated by at least two branches, but Chow said he was not aware if any branch had nominated him yet.

However, he pointed out that he still has time as the closing date for the submission of nominations for the Penang DAP polls is Aug 24.

“This is a question that will need a bit more time (for me to answer), the Penang chief minister told reporters.

“I do not know if I have been nominated. We will have to wait for the process to reach that stage.”

The state DAP chairman typically holds the chief minister’s position. However, this protocol was not observed when Lim Guan Eng held the chief minister’s post for two terms from 2008 to 2018.

The national DAP committee will conduct the election process, with nominated candidates given 14 days to accept or decline their nominations.

Last October, Chow reportedly claimed that people “in and outside the party” were planning to remove him as Penang chief minister. He later said this was due to certain “issues”, especially a land sale to a private company by the Penang Development Corporation (PDC).

Lim then urged Chow to furnish proof of this alleged plot, saying such claims would only shift the focus away from the state government being led in a competent, accountable and transparent manner.

The DAP chairman said party secretary-general Loke Siew Fook had also responded to the claim, saying there were no plans from DAP to replace Chow as chief minister.

Chow later backtracked on his claim, saying he was merely speaking about how things were before the state elections, which were held in August last year.

Prior to the state polls, there were rumours that Chow would not get a second term as chief minister and that Lim could make a return, or a candidate backed by the DAP chairman would get the post instead.

It was also reported that several incumbents were dropped from defending their state seats in the polls as they were aligned with Chow. However, DAP decided that Chow would remain in the post.