KUALA LUMPUR, April 8 — DAP’s decision to sacrifice its "Rocket” party logo in the election is in line with its principles, DAP international secretary Teo Nie Ching said today.

In a statement, Teo criticised MCA president Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai who had earlier today claimed that DAP’s decision not to use its own logo for the 14th general elections violated the party’s principles.

"The coming general election is not about DAP, it is not about our personal or DAP’s pride and honour,” Teo said, saying that the goal was to save Malaysia instead.

DAP, along with two other Pakatan Harapan (PH) components, will forgo their logo and contest under a common PKR logo for the national polls.

"Putting aside our personal pride and honour and to put national interest above any other things, that is the true spirit of the Rocket symbol,” she said.

Teo also criticised Liow for the fact that MCA had never used its own party logo in general elections. Barisan Nasional (BN) parties have always contested elections under the coalition’s logo, not under individual party tickets.

"I don’t think MCA President Liow Tiong Lai would ever understand,” she said.

Teo also pointed out that it took MCA decades to get BN to recognise the Unified Examination Certificate (UEC) as entry qualification for public universities, whereas PH had agreed on recognising UEC certificates right after the pact was formed.

BN’s manifesto for the 14th general election promised to allow UEC holders to enrol into public universities, as long as they obtain a credit in Bahasa Malaysia and a pass in the history subject in the Form Five public exam. The UEC is held by Chinese independent high school graduates.