DAP Looks Set for Compromise, With New Leaders a Win for Malaysia's Unity Government

Malaysia's Democratic Action Party (DAP) picked a line-up of top leaders that reflected a clear vote of confidence for the accommodative approach espoused by its secretary-general Anthony Loke.

- Shannon Teoh

Party insiders and analysts believe that the signal from over 3,300 delegates who voted on March 16 was clear: The Chinese-led, secular DAP's past idealistic fervour during its five decades as an opposition party does not work within a ruling alliance of disparate allies, and compromise between various points of view is the way forward.

Allies of Transport Minister Loke dominated the central executive committee (CEC) triennial election, taking 28 of the 30 spots up for grabs. As the largest party within Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim's two-year-old government, this was the DAP's first internal polls held while being in power.

Notably, incumbent chairman Lim Guan Eng's camp was roundly defeated, after a campaign that banked on his track record as a vocal champion for the DAP's traditional ideals of social justice and equality across multicultural Malaysia.

During a series of events leading up to the vote, Lim reminded the party not to be bossed around by Umno, an erstwhile rival-turned-ally within the unity government, citing how he and his father, DAP stalwart Lim Kit Siang, were jailed several times during Umno's six-decade rule that ended in 2018 as a parable of "standing firm for your beliefs".

The signs were there weeks ahead of the election, when several party veterans aligned to Lim pulled out of the race in an apparent signal that it was time for fresh faces and a new way forward as a key component in Malaysia's so-called unity government.

In the end, it was none other than Lim's own former lieutenant, Digital Minister Gobind Singh Deo, who was installed as the new party chairman in a compromise solution designed to ease growing factionalism in the party. Several leaders told The Straits Times that just days before the DAP congress, Mr Gobind himself had prevailed on Lim to accept that the vast majority of the party wanted their former leader to take a back seat. Lim was instead made the party's national adviser.