Jump to content

Democratic Action Party

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Wai Hong (talk | contribs) at 09:10, 5 January 2006. The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

This article is part of a series on the
Politics of
Malaysia
Head of State
Legislature
Executive
Judiciary
Elections
Political parties
List of political parties in Malaysia
Federalism
Ideologies and concepts

Race and politics

File:Dap logo.jpg
Democratic Action Party (DAP) logo

The Democratic Action Party (DAP, Parti Tindakan Demokratik in Malay) is Malaysia's largest secular and Socialist opposition party. Its core constituency is urban non-Muslim voters, with strongholds in areas such as Penang, Perak, and Sarawak.

History

The DAP was originally the Malaysian branch of the Singaporean People's Action Party (PAP). However, Singapore seceded from the federation in 1965, just two years after the territories had merged. Most of the Malaysian PAP members decided to remain with the original party, but those that decided to continue the party, including future President of Singapore Devan Nair, stayed in Malaysia to form the DAP in October 1965. [1] The party formally registered itself as a democratic socialist party on March 18 1966. 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 July 29 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".

In October that year, the DAP joined 55 other socialist parties belonging to the Socialist International (SI) at the SI International Conference in Zurich, Switzerland.

Nair, 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." [1]

The DAP contested a general election for the first time in 1969, winning 13 Parliamentary seats and 31 State Assembly seats, with 11.9% of all valid votes that were cast in the election. The 1969 election marked the biggest gains ever made by an opposition party in Malaysia, and came close to seeing the ruling Alliance toppled from power. However, a march made by the DAP along with Parti Gerakan Rakyat Malaysia (Gerakan) as part of the opposition led to violence, and resulted in what was euphemistically termed the May 13 Incident. Parliament was suspended for two years, and the executive branch of the government assumed power.

Following the ousting of Deputy Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim in September 1998, DAP co-founded the Barisan Alternatif coalition along with PAS and the newly formed Keadilan. 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 10 out of 193 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.

In the 2004 elections, 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. 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.

Chairman and Central Executive Committee

Lim Kit Siang was the second chairman of DAP (since 1999). Previously he was Secretary General since 1969. In 2004, he steps down in favour of Karpal Singh as the new Chairman. His son, Lim Guan Eng, steps into the position of Secretary-General. Lim Kit siang will move to an advisory role as the leader of a newly created body called the policy and strategic planning commission. Lim Kit Siang will remain parliamentary opposition leader.

The new deputy chairman is Dr Tan Seng Giaw (MP for Kepong). Four positions of vice-chairmen are MP M. Kulasegaran (MP for Ipoh Barat), Zulkifli MD Noor, Chow Kon Yeow and Richard Wong.

Positions in DAP are elected by a 19 member CEC (Central Executive Committee). In 2004, 402 (of 591 total national delegates) delegates were present to vote for members of the CEC. The top three were Tan Kok Wai (MP - Cheras) with 337 votes, Fong Po Kuan (MP - Batu Gajah) with 334 votes and Chow Kon Yeow with 333 votes. Fong Po Kuan gained prominence as the youngest MP of either gender to ever be elected to the Malaysian parliament. Additionally she was also the only MP to ever have been suspended without allowances by the speaker of parliament for "contempt".

Prominent members

There are 12 DAP MP elected in the Malaysian general election, 2004.

Other prominent members include Secretary General Lim Guan Eng, and ex-party member Tan Sri Lee Lam Thye. Lim Guan Eng was unable to contest in the 2004 general election due to specific legal requirements not being met at nomination time.

Lee Lam Thye has since been active as a social activist, particularly in the Malaysian Crime Prevention Foundation, the Malaysian Red Crescent, the Royal Commission on Police, and the National Service Programme. He was previously an elected MP for Bukit Bintang.

See also

References

Notes

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Democratic_Action_Party&oldid=33954409"