KUALA LUMPUR, June 8 — Skudai’s first term DAP assemblyman Marina Ibrahim’s announcement that she is quitting politics for good shocked many including her own party, as it prepares to face a critical state election in which Barisan Nasional is seen as the favourite to win again.

Marina’s announcement, issued just two days before Johor Menteri Besar Datuk Onn Hafiz Ghazi dissolved the state legislative assembly, fueled speculation about growing friction within the state’s DAP chapter. 

Just hours after the announcement, a letter believed to be written by her was circulated on the internet. In the letter, Marina purportedly explained her decision, including that she had been asked to vacate her Skudai seat help her party win Tiram, a Malay-majority seat and a known Umno stronghold. 

Umno had lost the seat only once — at the 2018 national elections when public anger against corruption drove Pakatan Harapan into power both in Johor, and at the federal level.

Political convention suggests the strategy to move Marina to Tiram was likely based on Marina’s popularity among Malay voters, despite her being in a party that is still viewed with suspicion by many Malay voters. 

If the rumour is true, this is not the first time the DAP has relied on the same playbook: shifting popular leaders from safe seats into tougher electoral battlegrounds. Here are the few high-profile victories the party gained from the strategy.

Liew Chin Tong winning Perling state seat (2022)

Liew, the DAP national organising secretary, was already MP for Iskandar Puteri and did not hold a state seat at the time. 

But instead of staying on the sidelines to coordinate, Liew was deployed directly to contest Perling at the 2022 state election as the party sought to leverage his popularity to win a high-risk urban seat where the party feared a massive drop in voter turnout could trigger an upset.

While BN won a landslide two-thirds majority across the state, Liew successfully held Perling by 3,347 votes to help DAP defend 10 out of its 14 seats in the face of a resurgent Umno.

Lim Kit Siang winning Gelang Patah (2013) 

At the 2013 general election when the DAP was still the oppositition, party icon Tan Sri Lim Kit Siang abandoned a massive 21,000-vote majority in Ipoh Timur, Perak, to contest Gelang Patah in Johor.

By defeating the sitting Johor menteri besar at the time, Umno veteran Datuk  Abdul Ghani Othman, Lim cracked BN’s southern armor, laying the groundwork for the opposition’s historic federal victory five years later. 

Lim won by over 14,000 votes, which analysts believed effectively helped lay the groundwork for PH eventual state victory in 2018 and BN’s first defeat since its formation. 

Yeo Bee Yin winning Bakri (2018)

This victory was less to do with the seat being risky, but a move analysts said was meant to inject vigour in the DAP’s attempt to break BN’s grip of Johor by using a personality-driven campaign to put Johor in a spotlight.

Her campaign rallies reportedly drew massive crowds, which pundits said created a “spillover effect” that helped cross-campaign for her allies — such as Syed Saddiq in Muar and Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin in Pagoh.

The local two-term incumbent, Er Teck Hwa, stepped aside to allow the party to field a fresh, national-level face. Yeo’s deployment wasn’t about rescuing a failing seat; it was about maximising the seat’s potential to act as a launchpad for the rest of the state.  

Yeo decimated her competition then, expanding the DAP’s majority from 5,067 to a staggering 23,211 votes.

Tan Hong Pin winning Skudai (2018)

Tan left the secured Mengkilbol state seat that he won in 2013 to charge into Skudai, a highly crucial urban frontline.

But Mengkilbol was not always a DAP stronghold. It was captured by DAP’s Ng Lam Hua in 2008 by a narrow 1,200-vote margin. Tan was fielded there as a fresh face in 2013 and tasked to fortify the seat, which he succeeded, expanding the majority to 10,001 votes against MCA’s candidate.

Likely after Mengkilbol is deemed as secured, the party deployed Tan in the campaign to defend Skudai, at the time held by DAP veteran Dr. Boo Cheng Hau.

While the seat had been held by the Dr Boo for the previous two terms, alleged factional infighting reportedly over Dr Boo’s refusal to stand in the Labis parliamentary seat threatened to weaken the party. He was eventually dropped from the candidates list altogether.

Analysts suggested Tan was deployed because he was a uniting figure, owing to his reputation as a highly disciplined, efficient organiser who had successfully proved his capability in building party machinery during his time at Mengkilbol.