Democratic Action Party

Democratic Action Party
Malay name	Parti Tindakan Demokratik ڤرتي تيندقن ديموکراتيک
Chinese name	民主行動黨 民主行动党 Mínzhǔ xíngdòng dǎng
Tamil name	ஜனநாயக செயல் கட்சி Jaṉanāyaka ceyal kaṭci
Abbreviation	DAP
Secretary-General	Lim Guan Eng
National Chairman	Tan Kok Wai
National Deputy Chairman	Gobind Singh Deo
National Vice-Chairmen	Chong Chieng Jen Chow Kon Yeow M. Kulasegaran Tengku Zulpuri Shah Raja Puji
Deputy Secretaries-General	Teresa Kok Nga Kor Ming V. Sivakumar
Founder	Chen Man Hin Devan Nair
Founded	11 October 1965 (1965-10-11)
Legalised	18 March 1966 (1966-03-18)
Split from	People's Action Party (Singapore)
Headquarters	Jalan Yew (off Jalan Pudu), 55100 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Newspaper	The Rocket RoketKini
Student wing	Mahasiswa Roket
Youth wing	DAP Socialist Youth (DAPSY) Leader: Lee Chuan How
Women's wing	Wanita DAP Leader: Chong Eng
Ideology	Social democracy[1] Multiracialism Secularism Social liberalism Civic nationalism Social justice Factions: Malaysian Chinese interests[2] (Allegedly) Anti-Islam (Allegedly)
Political position	Centre-left[3]
National affiliation	Gagasan Rakyat (1990–1996) Barisan Alternatif (1999–2004) Pakatan Rakyat (2008–2015) Pakatan Harapan (Since 2015)
International affiliation	Progressive Alliance
Colours	Red,   white,   blue
Slogan	Malaysian Malaysia and Malaysian First
Anthem	Berjuang Untuk Rakyat Malaysia! (Fighting for Malaysians!)
Dewan Negara:	3 / 70
Dewan Rakyat:	42 / 222
Dewan Undangan Negeri:	102 / 607
Chief minister of states	1 / 13
Election symbol
Party flag
Website
www.dapmalaysia.org
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The Democratic Action Party, or DAP (Malay: Parti Tindakan Demokratik‬, Chinese: 民主行动党, Tamil: ஜனநாயக செயல் கட்சி), is a multi-racial, centre-left Malaysian political party advocating social democracy and secularism.^[4] One of the component parties of the Pakatan Harapan (PH) coalition, it was an opposition party for 51 years until PH won the 2018 Malaysian general election and formed the federal government. However, before the coalition finished its first term, defections from partnering PH component parties caused it to lose power after 22 months, culminating in the 2020 Malaysian political crisis. As of 24 February 2020, DAP is the largest party in Malaysia's Dewan Rakyat.

The party's vision is to establish a peaceful and prosperous social democracy that can unite its disparate races and diverse religions and cultures, based on the Malaysian Malaysia concept of forging a Malaysian race grounded on universal moral values, offering equal access and opportunity, upholding democratic governance and the rule of law, creating wealth and distributing it equitably, and fighting corruption.^[5]

The DAP usually draws much of their support from secular and liberal voters with a stable electorate from voters of big cities, coastal regions, professional middle-class, and working class. The party's strongholds are primarily in the urban and semi-urban areas of Penang, Perak, Selangor, Negeri Sembilan, Johor, Malacca and the Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur. In the 2018 Malaysian general election, DAP contested in 47 federal constituencies and won 42 seats and 101 out of 104 state seats contested, most under the ticket of its ally People's Justice Party, representing a win rate of 95%, the highest among the major political parties contesting.

History[]

Formation[]

On 11 October 1965, the DAP was formed by former members of the deregistered People's Action Party of Malaysia, including Bangsar Member of Parliament Devan Nair, who later became President of Singapore. The party formally registered itself as a democratic socialist party on 18 March 1966.^[6] The ten members of the pro-tem committee were Devan Nair as secretary-general, Chen Man Hin (who won the Seremban state constituency as an independent) as chairman, D. P. Xavier as assistant secretary-general, Goh Hock Guan as vice-chairman, Seeveratnam Sinnathamby (younger brother of Singapore minister S. Rajaratnam) as treasurer and Zain Azahari bin Zainal Abidin, Chin Chan Sung, Michael Khong Chye Huat, Tan Chong Bee and Too Chee Cheong as members.^[7]

In the August of that year, the official party organ, The Rocket, was first published. At the first DAP National Congress held in Setapak, Kuala Lumpur on 29 July 1967, the DAP declared itself to be "irrevocably committed to the ideal of a free, democratic and socialist Malaysia, based on the principles of racial and religious equality, social and economic justice, and founded on the institution of parliamentary democracy".^[8]

In October that year, the DAP joined 55 other socialist parties belonging to the Socialist International at the SI International Conference in Zurich, Switzerland.^[8] Devan Nair, who was amongst those who founded the DAP, later returned to Singapore. Lee Kuan Yew, then Prime Minister of Singapore under the PAP, explained in 1981 that "the Cabinet decided that Singapore-Malaysia relations would always be bedevilled if Devan Nair remained a DAP leader. I persuaded him to come back".^[9]

Early electoral successes[]

The DAP contested a general election for the first time in 1969. In line with their commitment to equality, the DAP originally campaigned against Bumiputera privileges, such as those afforded to them by Article 153 of the Constitution. They also continued Lee Kuan Yew's campaign for a "Malaysian Malaysia",^[10] the idea of which was originally conveyed by Lee in Parliament: "Malaysia – to whom does it belong? To Malaysians. But who are Malaysians? I hope I am, Mr Speaker, Sir. But sometimes, sitting in this chamber, I doubt whether I am allowed to be a Malaysian".^[11][12] The DAP went on to win 13 Parliamentary seats and 31 State Assembly seats, with 11.9% of all valid votes that were cast in the election; the Parti Gerakan Rakyat Malaysia (Gerakan) which campaigned on a similar platform also made major gains. The 1969 election marked the biggest gains ever made by an opposition party in Malaysia (before 2008), and came close to seeing the ruling Alliance toppled from power. However, a march made by the DAP along with Gerakan as part of the opposition team led to violence, and resulted in what was euphemistically termed the 13 May Incident. Parliament was suspended for two years, and the executive branch of the government assumed power.^[13]

When Parliament reconvened, it passed pieces of legislation such as the Sedition Act that illegalised discussion of repealing certain portions of the Constitution. Most of these concerned Bumiputra privileges, such as Article 153. The DAP and the People's Progressive Party were the only parties that voted against the Act, which passed by a vote of 125 to 17.^[14] After the 1969 election, the DAP would never come close to repeating its past successes for the next 38 years. Although the DAP remained a major opposition party, the ruling coalition had clung solidly to its two-thirds parliamentary majority. The DAP, however, continued campaigning on its platform of abolishing the Bumiputra privileges, giving equal rights for all Malaysians regardless of race and establishing a democratic socialist state in Malaysia.^[15][16] During the Mahathir administration in 1987, several DAP leaders, including Parliamentary Opposition Leader Lim Kit Siang, were detained by the government without trial during Operation Lalang, under the accusation of being a national security threat. It is widely believed they were arrested for protesting the expansion of the New Economic Policy.^[17]

1995–2008[]

In 1995, the party ran what has become widely known as the "Robocop" campaign to wrest Penang from the Barisan Nasional. Despite the hype, the campaign was a failure as the party only won one state and three parliamentary seats. The strategy backfired when Prime Minister Mahathir, BN leaders and the media criticised Lim Kit Siang as a "robot" and "soulless" person.^[18]

Following the ousting of Deputy Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim in September 1998, DAP co-founded the Barisan Alternatif coalition along with Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party and the newly formed People's Justice Party. However, the coalition did not work out very well for the DAP, with two of its top leaders, Lim Kit Siang and Karpal Singh losing their Parliamentary seats in the 1999 election; the DAP managed to win only 5% (10 out of 193) of the seats in Parliament. PAS became the leading opposition party in Parliament. It left the coalition in 2001 due to a disagreement with PAS over the issue of an Islamic state.^[19][20]

In the 2004 general election, the DAP managed to capture 12 seats in Parliament, while PAS and Keadilan suffered major setbacks, with PAS losing 20 of the 27 seats it had held after the 1999 elections, and Keadilan lost all seats except one returned after a recount. The eventual outcome saw Lim Kit Siang, who had been elected in his constituency of Ipoh Timur with a majority of 10,000 votes, formally elected as the leader of the opposition in Parliament, a post he had lost to the president of PAS in 1999.^[21]

In the 2006 Sarawak state election, the Democratic Action Party won 6 of the 12 seats it contested and narrowly lost three other seats with small majorities.^[22] Up til then it was the party's best showing ever in the history of Sarawak's state elections since 1979.

2008–2015[]

Pakatan Rakyat was formed in 2008 by DAP, PKR and PAS. In the 2008 general election, the DAP won 13% (28 out of 222) of the seats in the Dewan Rakyat, with PAS and PKR making substantial gains as well with 23 seats and 31 seats respectively. In total, the taking of 82 seats (37%) by the opposition to Barisan Nasional's 140 seats (63%), makes it the best performance in Malaysian history by the opposition, and denied Barisan Nasional the two-thirds majority required to make constitutional changes in the Dewan Rakyat.^[23] DAP advisor Lim Kit Siang expressed surprise at the election results but declared it to be the true power of the voice of the Malaysian people for the leaders of the country to hear them.^[24] In addition, DAP, having secured all its contested seats in the state of Penang, formed the Penang state government with its alliance partners PKR and PAS, the Chief Minister being DAP's Lim Guan Eng, son of Lim Kit Siang.^[25]

In the 2011 Sarawak state election, DAP furthered its gains from the previous election, winning 12 out of the 70 state assembly seats, with PR winning a total of 15 state seats and 41% of the popular vote. The PR's success was further enhanced in the 2013 general election when DAP went on to win 17% (38 out of 222) of the seats in the Dewan Rakyat and the PR coalition won the popular vote, giving the BN government its worst election showing since independence. In 2015, the PR alliance broke up after a PAS Muktamar (General Assembly) motion unanimously approved the breaking of ties with DAP due to disagreements over PAS's decision to propose a private member's bill to implement "hudud" (Islamic penal code).^[26] Following PAS's decision to cut ties with DAP, DAP announced that PR had "ceased to exist".^[27][28]

2015 to Present[]

On 22 September 2015, Pakatan Harapan was formed by DAP, PKR and National Trust Party to succeed PR. In the 2016 Sarawak state election, DAP lost its gains from the previous election, retained only 7 out of the 82 state assembly seats, with PH retained only a total of 10 state seats and 29.43% of the popular vote. On 12 February 2017, Kota Melaka MP, Sim Tong Him along with three other DAP state assemblymen from Melaka namely Goh (Duyong), (Bachang), and (Kesidang) announced their resignation from the party to be Independent, citing lack of trust in the party leadership.^[29] On 14 March 2017, PPBM officially joined PH as a member party. This made the coalition parties increase to four, where they competed in the 2018 general election against the BN coalition. During the election, PH achieved simple majority in Parliament when the coalition has secured 113 seats and finally able to form a new federal government through an early pact signed with Sabah Heritage Party.^[30][31] DAP won 42 seats out of the 47 seats it contested, making it the second-highest number of seats in PH behind PKR with 47 seats.^[32] Together with other coalition members, Lim Guan Eng and his peers took on ministerial roles in the newly formed cabinet. Lim became the Minister of Finance of the current ruling government when Mahathir announced the initial 10 minister portfolio holders. He subsequently became the first Malaysian Chinese to hold the post in 44 years since Tun Tan Siew Sin of Malaysian Chinese Association, who served from 1959 until 1974.^[33][34] Loke Siew Fook replaced Lim Kit Siang as DAP parliamentary leader on 11 July 2018 for the 14th Dewan Rakyat session.^[35]

On 24 February 2020, the DAP became the largest party in the Dewan Rakyat for the first time after 11 out of 50 PKR MPs resigned over the political crisis. UMNO had also lost 16 out of 54 MPs over several months, mostly through defections to PPBM. The 42 MPs of the DAP have remained intact.

On 9 March, Paul Yong Choo Kiong & Buntong A Sivasubramaniam declare out of party.^[36]

On March 10, DAP sack Norhizam Hassan Baktee, Pengkalan Batu Assemblyman. The dismissal came after Norhizam decided to support a new Perikatan Nasional coalition in Malacca state.^[37]

On 7 July, DAP sack 3 members (Kong Lai Ling, Ng Sook Whye and Khi Poh Chong) due to the involved in the incident of the fall of the Perak state government to the Perikatan Nasional.^[38]

On 10 July, Mary Josephine, Rahang assemblywomen declare out of party. She said the decision was made after admitting that she could no longer face the challenges and pressures from the state DAP leadership.^[39] However, she had revert her decision and rejoin the party on 20 July.^[40]

On 27 July, Padungan assemblyman and Sarawak DAP vice-chairman Wong King Wei has announced his resignation from DAP with immediate effect, saying he was disillusioned with its direction and management. He claimed the party has deviated from the aims, objectives and struggle of the earlier days when he joined in 2006.^[41]

On 30 July, nominated Sabah assemblyman Ronnie Loh Ee Eng was sacked from the DAP for supporting the Perikatan Nasional's treacherous attempt to topple the Warisan Plus Sabah state government led by Shafie Apdal .^[42]

Ethnic diversity[]

In spite of being a multi-racial party, the majority of DAP's party membership is of ethnic-Chinese heritage, with most elected positions within the party being held by Chinese members. The party's first Malay member of parliament, only won his seat in the 1990 general election,^{[43][third-party source needed]} The DAP also only gained its first native Sabahan (Kadazandusun) legislator in the 2013 election, Edwin Jack Bosi who sat in Sabah State Legislative Assembly.^[44] The lack of ethnic diversity within the party has led to DAP being viewed as a "racist" party in that it is exclusively concerned with the issues of the Chinese community by Malays.^[45]

Party symbols[]

Party logo[]

The symbol or logo of the DAP (see above) is the rocket, which it has used since the 1969 general election. Its components are symbolised as follows:

• The red rocket symbolises the Party's aspiration for a modern, dynamic and progressive society
• The four rocket boosters represent the support and drive given to the Party objectives by the three major ethnicities (Malay, Chinese, Indian) and others
• The blue circle stands for the unity of the multi-racial people of Malaysia
• The white background stands for purity and incorruptibility

Ubah mascot[]

In 2008, DAP initially introduced "Rocket Kid", a rocket as the party's official mascot during the 12th Malaysian general election. This was then changed to Ubah bird, a hornbill which was designed by Ooi Leng Hang and was launched during the Sarawak state election in 2011 and also used as part of their political campaigning during the 13th Malaysian general election in 2013. DAP had adopted this bird as a symbol for change both for its unique characteristics, hardiness and representation of the unity of both East Malaysia and West Malaysia into a Malaysian nation.^[46] Its merchandise such as plush toys, buttons and car stickers were very well received by the public.^[47] The idea of the mascot came from Sarawak DAP Secretary, Chong Chieng Jen, who felt a mascot would boost the spirit of the people. The name "Ubah", which means "change" in Malay, is in line with the party's aspirations in changing the ruling party of the Malaysian federal government. In addition to its original Sarawak Iban costume, "Ubah" now comes in a Malay costume for Hari Raya, Indian costume for Deepavali, Chinese costume for Chinese New Year, Santa Claus costume for Christmas, and a Superman costume that depicts the power of the people.^[48][49] On 13 July 2013, a gigantic float known as the "Ubah Inflatable Bird (Water Ubah)" was officially launched at IJM Promenade, Jelutong, Penang by DAP Secretary General Lim Guan Eng.^[46][50]

Songs[]

DAP's official party anthem is Berjuang Untuk Rakyat Malaysia (Fighting for Malaysians).

Other than the official party anthem, DAP has also unveiled several theme songs and music videos mostly with an Ubah theme such as "Ubah" with over 1,000,000 views, 明天 with over 500,000 views and "Ubah Rocket Style" with over 300,000 views, which is a parody of the viral YouTube hit "Gangnam Style".

Leadership structure[]

National Central Executive Committee[]

The leadership of the Democratic Action Party are elected through party delegates in national level. The executive power is vested for the Secretary-General. The leader and the highest-ranked member of the party is the Secretary-General. The current Secretary-General is former Minister of Finance Lim Guan Eng. There will only be 20 CEC positions available for grabs while the remaining positions will be appointed by the new Central Executive Committees. The latest leadership structure could be found below.^[4][51]

List of the leaders of the Democratic Action Party (since 1966)[]

Below are the lists of various leaders' post for every term.

Elected representatives[]

Dewan Negara (Senate)[]

Senators[]

Dewan Rakyat (House of Representatives)[]

Members of Parliament of the 14th Malaysian Parliament[]

DAP has 42 members in the House of Representatives.

State	No.	Parliament Constituency	Member	Party
Penang	P043	Bagan	Lim Guan Eng		DAP
	P045	Bukit Mertajam	Steven Sim Chee Keong		DAP
	P046	Batu Kawan	Kasthuriraani Patto		DAP
	P048	Bukit Bendera	Wong Hon Wai		DAP
	P049	Tanjong	Chow Kon Yeow		DAP
	P050	Jelutong	Sanisvara Nethaji Rayer Rajaji Rayer		DAP
	P051	Bukit Gelugor	Ramkarpal Singh		DAP
Perak	P060	Taiping	Teh Kok Lim		DAP
	P064	Ipoh Timor	Wong Kah Woh		DAP
	P065	Ipoh Barat	Kulasegaran Murugeson		DAP
	P066	Batu Gajah	Sivakumar Varatharaju Naidu		DAP
	P068	Beruas	Ngeh Koo Ham		DAP
	P070	Kampar	Su Keong Siong		DAP
	P076	Teluk Intan	Nga Kor Ming		DAP
Pahang	P080	Raub	Tengku Zulpuri Shah Raja Puji		DAP
	P089	Bentong	Wong Tack		DAP
Selangor	P102	Bangi	Ong Kian Ming		DAP
	P103	Puchong	Gobind Singh Deo		DAP
	P106	Damansara	Tony Pua Kiam Wee		DAP
	P110	Klang	Charles Anthony Santiago		DAP
Kuala Lumpur	P114	Kepong	Lim Lip Eng		DAP
	P117	Segambut	Hannah Yeoh Tseow Suan		DAP
	P120	Bukit Bintang	Fong Kui Lun		DAP
	P122	Seputeh	Teresa Kok Suh Sim		DAP
	P123	Cheras	Tan Kok Wai		DAP
Negeri Sembilan	P128	Seremban	Loke Siew Fook		DAP
	P130	Rasah	Cha Kee Chin		DAP
Malacca	P138	Kota Melaka	Khoo Poay Tiong		DAP
Johor	P142	Labis	Pang Hok Liong		DAP
	P145	Bakri	Yeo Bee Yin		DAP
	P152	Kluang	Wong Shu Qi		DAP
	P162	Iskandar Puteri	Lim Kit Siang		DAP
	P163	Kulai	Teo Nie Ching		DAP
Sabah	P172	Kota Kinabalu	Chan Foong Hin		DAP
	P181	Tenom	Noorita Sual		DAP
	P186	Sandakan	Vivian Wong Shir Yee		DAP
Sarawak	P192	Mas Gading	Mordi Bimol		DAP
	P195	Bandar Kuching	Kelvin Yii Lee Wuen		DAP
	P196	Stampin	Chong Chieng Jen		DAP
	P208	Sarikei	Wong Ling Biu		DAP
	P211	Lanang	Alice Lau Kiong Yieng		DAP
	P212	Sibu	Oscar Ling Chai Yew		DAP
Total	Penang (7), Perak (7), Pahang (2), Selangor (4), F.T. Kuala Lumpur (5), Negeri Sembilan (2), Malacca (1), Johor (5), Sabah (3), Sarawak (6)

Dewan Undangan Negeri (State Legislative Assembly)[]

Malaysian State Assembly Representatives[]

State	No.	Parliament Constituency	No.	State Constituency	Member	Party
Kedah	P8	Pokok Sena	N11	Derga	Tan Kok Yew		DAP
	P9	Alor Setar	N13	Kota Darul Aman	Teh Swee Leong		DAP
Penang	P43	Bagan	N7	Sungai Puyu	Phee Boon Poh		DAP
			N8	Bagan Jermal	Soon Lip Chee		DAP
			N9	Bagan Dalam	Satees Muniandy		DAP
	P45	Bukit Mertajam	N13	Berapit	Heng Lee Lee		DAP
			N15	Padang Lalang	Chong Eng		DAP
	P46	Batu Kawan	N16	Perai	Ramasamy Palanisamy		DAP
	P47	Nibong Tebal	N19	Jawi	H’ng Mooi Lye		DAP
	P48	Bukit Bendera	N22	Tanjong Bunga	Zairil Khir Johari		DAP
			N23	Air Putih	Lim Guan Eng		DAP
			N25	Pulau Tikus	Lee Chun Kit		DAP
	P49	Tanjong	N26	Padang Kota	Chow Kon Yeow		DAP
			N27	Pengkalan Kota	Gooi Zi Sen		DAP
			N28	Komtar	Teh Lai Heng		DAP
	P50	Jelutong	N29	Datok Keramat	Jagdeep Singh Deo		DAP
			N30	Sungai Pinang	Lim Siew Khim		DAP
			N31	Batu Lancang	Ong Ah Teong		DAP
	P51	Bukit Gelugor	N32	Seri Delima	Syerleena Abdul Rashid		DAP
			N33	Air Itam	Joseph Ng Soon Seong		DAP
			N34	Paya Terubong	Yeoh Soon Hin		DAP
Perak	P60	Taiping	N17	Pokok Assam	Leow Thye Yih		DAP
			N18	Aulong	Nga Kor Ming		DAP
	P62	Sungai Siput	N22	Jalong	Loh Sze Yee		DAP
	P64	Ipoh Timor	N25	Canning	Jenny Choy Tsi Jen		DAP
			N26	Tebing Tinggi	Abdul Aziz Bari		DAP
			N27	Pasir Pinji	Lee Chuan How		DAP
	P65	Ipoh Barat	N28	Bercham	Ong Boon Piow		DAP
			N29	Kepayang	Ko Chung Sen		DAP
	P66	Batu Gajah	N31	Jelapang	Cheah Poh Hian		DAP
			N32	Menglembu	Chaw Kam Foon		DAP
	P68	Beruas	N37	Pantai Remis	Wong May Ing		DAP
			N38	Astaka	Teoh Yee Chern		DAP
	P70	Kampar	N42	Keranji	Chong Zhe Min		DAP
	P76	Teluk Intan	N55	Pasir Bedamar	Terence Naidu Rajan Naidu @ Rajanaidu		DAP
	P77	Tanjong Malim	N57	Sungkai	Sivanesan Achalingam		DAP
Pahang	P78	Cameron Highlands	N1	Tanah Rata	Chiong Yoke Kong		DAP
	P80	Raub	N7	Tras	Chow Yu Hui		DAP
	P88	Temerloh	N30	Mentakab	Woo Chee Wan		DAP
	P89	Bentong	N33	Bilut	Lee Chin Chen		DAP
			N34	Ketari	Young Syefura Othman		DAP
			N35	Sabai	Kamache Doray Rajoo		DAP
	P90	Bera	N36	Triang	Leong Yu Man		DAP
Selangor	P93	Sungai Besar	N4	Sekinchan	Ng Suee Lim		DAP
	P94	Hulu Selangor	N6	Kuala Kubu Baharu	Lee Kee Hiong		DAP
	P101	Hulu Langat	N23	Dusun Tua	Edry Faizal Eddy Yusof		DAP
	P102	Bangi	N27	Balakong	Wong Siew Ki		DAP
	P103	Puchong	N28	Seri Kembangan	Ean Yong Hiah Wah		DAP
	P104	Subang	N30	Kinrara	Ng Sze Han		DAP
			N31	Subang Jaya	Michelle Ng Mei Sze		DAP
	P105	Petaling Jaya	N34	Bukit Gasing	Rajiv Rishyakaran		DAP
	P106	Damansara	N35	Kampung Tunku	Lim Yi Wei		DAP
			N36	Bandar Utama	Jamaliah Jamaluddin		DAP
	P110	Klang	N45	Bandar Baru Klang	Teng Chang Khim		DAP
			N47	Pandamaran	Leong Tuck Chee		DAP
	P111	Kota Raja	N50	Kota Kemuning	Ganabatirau Veraman		DAP
	P112	Kuala Langat	N52	Banting	Lau Weng San		DAP
	P113	Sepang	N56	Sungai Pelek	Ronnie Liu Tian Khiew		DAP
Negeri Sembilan	P126	Jelebu	N1	Chennah	Anthony Loke Siew Fook		DAP
	P127	Jempol	N8	Bahau	Teo Kok Seong		DAP
	P128	Seremban	N10	Nilai	Arul Kumar Jambunathan		DAP
			N11	Lobak	Chew She Yong		DAP
			N12	Temiang	Ng Chin Tsai		DAP
	P130	Rasah	N21	Bukit Kepayang	Nichole Tan Lee Koon		DAP
			N22	Rahang	Mary Josephine Pritam Singh		DAP
			N23	Mambau	Yap Yew Weng		DAP
			N24	Seremban Jaya	Gunasekaren Palasamy		DAP
	P132	Port Dickson	N30	Lukut	Choo Ken Hwa		DAP
	P133	Tampin	N36	Repah	Veerapan Superamaniam		DAP
Melaka	P135	Alor Gajah	N7	Gadek	Saminathan Ganesan		DAP
	P137	Hang Tuah Jaya	N16	Ayer Keroh	Kerk Chee Yee		DAP
	P138	Kota Melaka	N19	Kesidang	Seah Shoo Chin		DAP
			N20	Kota Laksamana	Low Chee Leong		DAP
			N21	Duyong	Damian Yeo Shen Li		DAP
			N22	Bandar Hilir	Tey Kok Kiew		DAP
	P139	Jasin	N24	Bemban	Wong Fort Pin		DAP
Johor	P140	Segamat	N2	Jementah	Tan Chen Choon		DAP
	P142	Labis	N6	Bekok	Ramakrishnan Suppiah		DAP
	P144	Ledang	N10	Tangkak	Ee Chin Li		DAP
	P145	Bakri	N12	Bentayan	Ng Yak Howe		DAP
	P148	Ayer Hitam	N19	Yong Peng	Chew Peck Choo		DAP
	P150	Batu Pahat	N23	Penggaram	Gan Peck Cheng		DAP
	P152	Kluang	N28	Mengkibol	Chew Chong Sin		DAP
	P153	Sembrong	N30	Paloh	Sheikh Umar Bagharib Ali		DAP
	P159	Pasir Gudang	N42	Johor Jaya	Liow Chai Tung		DAP
	P160	Johor Bahru	N45	Stulang	Chen Kah Eng		DAP
	P161	Pulai	N46	Perling	Cheo Yee How		DAP
	P162	Iskandar Puteri	N48	Skudai	Tan Hong Pin		DAP
	P163	Kulai	N52	Senai	Tee Boon Tsong		DAP
	P165	Tanjung Piai	N55	Pekan Nanas	Yeo Tung Siong		DAP
Sabah	P172	Kota Kinabalu	N19	Likas	Tan Lee Fatt		DAP
			N21	Luyang	Phoong Jin Zhe		DAP
	P174	Penampang	N25	Kapayan	Jannie Lasimbang		DAP
	P186	Sandakan	N55	Elopura	Calvin Chong Ket Kiun		DAP
			N56	Tanjong Papat	Frankie Poon Ming Fung		DAP
	P190	Tawau	N69	Sri Tanjong	Justin Wong Yung Bin		DAP
Sarawak	P195	Bandar Kuching	N10	Pending	Violet Yong Wui Wui		DAP
	P196	Stampin	N12	Kota Sentosa	Chong Chieng Jen		DAP
	P211	Lanang	N51	Bukit Assek	Irene Mary Chang Oi Ling		DAP
	P212	Sibu	N54	Pelawan	David Wong Kee Woan		DAP
	P217	Bintulu	N68	Tanjong Batu	Chiew Chiu Sing		DAP
Total	Kedah (2), Penang (19), Perak (16), Pahang (7), Selangor (15), Negeri Sembilan (11), Melaka (7), Johor (14), Sabah (6), Sarawak (5),

DAP state governments[]

State	Leader type	Member	Party		State Constituency
Penang	Chief Minister	Chow Kon Yeow		DAP	Padang Kota

State	Leader type	Member	Party		State Constituency
Penang	Deputy Chief Minister II	Ramasamy Palanisamy		DAP	Perai

General election results[]

Election	Total seats won	Seats contested	Total votes	Share of votes	Outcome of election	Election leader
1964 (as PAP)	1 / 144	11	42,130	2.0%	1 seats; Opposition	Lee Kuan Yew
1969	13 / 144	24	286,606	12.1%	12 seats; Opposition	Goh Hock Guan
1974	9 / 144	46	387,845	18.3%	4 seats; Opposition	Lim Kit Siang
1978	16 / 154	53	664,433	19.1%	7 seats; Opposition	Lim Kit Siang
1982	9 / 154	63	815,473	19.6%	7 seats; Opposition	Lim Kit Siang
1986	24 / 154	64	968,009	21.0%	15 seats; Opposition	Lim Kit Siang
1990	20 / 180	57	985,228	17.13%	4 seats; Opposition coalition (Gagasan Rakyat)	Lim Kit Siang
1995	9 / 192	50	712,175	12.0%	11 seats; Opposition coalition (Gagasan Rakyat)	Lim Kit Siang
1999	10 / 193	47	830,870	12.53%	1 seats; Opposition coalition (Barisan Alternatif)	Lim Kit Siang
2004	12 / 219	44	687,340	9.9%	2 seats; Opposition	Kerk Kim Hock (Secretary-general) Lim Kit Siang (Chairman, Central Policy & Strategic Planning Commission)
2008	28 / 222	47	1,118,025	13.77%	16 seats; Opposition coalition (Pakatan Rakyat)	Lim Guan Eng (Secretary-general) Lim Kit Siang (Parliamentary Leader)
2013	38 / 222	51	1,736,601	15.71%	10 seats; Opposition coalition (Pakatan Rakyat)	Lim Guan Eng (Secretary-general) Lim Kit Siang (Parliamentary Leader)
2018	42 / 222	47	2,040,068	18.48%	4 seats; Governing coalition, later Opposition coalition (Pakatan Harapan)	Lim Guan Eng (Secretary-general) Lim Kit Siang (Parliamentary Leader)

State election results[]

Controversy[]

Allegations of racism and chauvinism[]

Despite constant rebuttals by party leaders, DAP has been depicted by their political opponents as a party that favours the Malaysian Chinese minority above others. This allegation of racial chauvinism culminated in a two-piece television program broadcast on government-controlled TV channel RTM entitled "Bahaya Cauvinisme". The program forced then party leader Lim Kit Siang to issue a formal media statement to counter the allegations.^[52]

On 15 November 2011, Ismail Sabri Yaakob, the Malaysian Minister for Domestic Trade, Co-operatives and Consumerism, accused DAP's publicity chief, Tony Pua of racism for making repeated attacks against the Kedai Rakyat 1Malaysia, a government initiative to supply cheap retail products to Malaysian consumers. Tony Pua was criticised for singling out Kedai Rakyat 1 Malaysia, whose suppliers to the store generally come from the Malaysian Bumiputra community, and for not investigating the quality of products supplied by Malaysian-Chinese suppliers or making similar accusations against independent Malaysian-Chinese stores.^[53]

Allegations of racism have forced DAP party leader Lim Guan Eng to issue a formal denial in the Penang High Court.^[54]

2012 party election controversy[]

At the DAP election in December 2012, Vincent Wu, who was initially declared to have secured the sixth spot with 1,202 votes, dropped to 26th place because he had actually secured only 669. Zairil Khir Johari was elected to the central executive committee (CEC) with 803 votes to secure the 20th spot. The glitch, reportedly because of a vote tabulation error due to the copy-and-paste method in Microsoft Excel, had raised suspicion.^[55]

DAP admitted the counting error after discovering the mistake. The DAP election fiasco had caused unease among party members and led to protests to the Registrar of Societies (RoS). Two dissatisfied life members of the DAP then lodged reports with the RoS on the party elections following the revelations.^[56]

Following the report the RoS had informed DAP of the dispute by its members and in turn as provided for under Section 3A of the Societies Act 1966 did recognise the office-bearers of the committee formed in the party elections on 15 December 2012, the point of contention.^[57]

GE-13 logo issue[]

DAP chairperson Karpal Singh said DAP will contest under the PAS logo for the Peninsula and PKR logo in Sabah and Sarawak in the 13th general election, following the Registrar of Societies' (RoS) failure to respond on the withdrawal letter of RoS informing that it does not recognise the party's top leadership line-up. DAP had appealed to the RoS to withdraw its letter to suspend the party's existing central executive committee (CEC) but the department was silent on the matter.^[58]

On 19 April 2013, DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng informed all its 51 parliament and 103 state candidates to use the rocket symbol first during nomination tomorrow, and show the Election Commission the letter of authorisation signed by secretary-general Lim Guan Eng. If the rocket symbol is rejected, then use the letter of authorisation signed by PAS secretary-general Mustafa Ali for Peninsula Malaysia and PKR letter of authorisation for Sabah and Sarawak. This came after the DAP decided to use PAS and PKR symbols for the coming general election on 5 May.^[58]

On 20 April 2013, DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng said DAP can use its iconic rocket symbol for the 5 May general election after getting last-minute confirmation late at night on 19 April 2013. He said the DAP headquarters in Kuala Lumpur received a letter by hand from the RoS at 10 p.m. on 19 April, stating that it had no objections to the DAP using the logo, and that the Election Commission (EC) had informed all returning officers to accept nominations from the DAP.^[59]

See also[]

• List of political parties in Malaysia
• Pakatan Harapan
• Politics of Malaysia

References[]

Notes[]

• James Chin. The Sarawak Chinese Voters and their support for the Democratic Action Party (DAP), Southeast Asian Studies, Vol. 34, No. 2, 1996, pp 387–401
• James Chin. The Malaysian Chinese Dilemma: The Never Ending Policy (NEP), Chinese Southern Diaspora Studies, Vol 3, 2009

External links[]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Democratic Action Party (Malaysia).

• Official website
• DAP Penang branch home page
• DAP RoketKini.com (DAP Malay Language News)