KUALA LUMPUR, May 6 — DAP today reaffirmed its commitment towards defending the rights of the Bumiputera, including the Malays, the sovereignty of the King and the Malay Rulers, the special status of Islam and dignifying the national language as part of the constitutional guarantees.
The component party in the ruling Pakatan Harapan (PH) also acknowledged the need for a moderate “new vision” for Malaysia and reiterated its commitment to nation building in a statement it dubbed the New Malaysia Declaration following their national conference yesterday,
"We need to build a new narrative beyond racial framing for New Malaysia that brings every Malaysian together to scale greater heights as a nation,” it said in a statement.
It rejected its portrayal as a “non-Malay party or a Chinese party”, saying the party’s members comprised Malays, Chinese, Indians, Kadazandusuns, Dayaks, and Orang Asli since its founding in 1966.
“Lest we forget, since our first GE in 1969, Ibrahim Singgeh became DAP's first Malay state assemblyman for Tapah Road constituency,” it highlighted.
However, it also called its members and grassroots leaders to bear in mind their larger representation that encompassed the Malays as well as non-Malays.
“This must be the same spirit we hold for our allies in Pakatan Harapan that they too must think beyond merely representing Malay interests.
“In fact, we must think beyond Semenanjung interests to enable the sharing of new vision with our comrades in Sabah and Sarawak,” it said in its declaration.
The New Malaysia Declaration is DAP's 11th proclamation since its formation on March 18, 1966.
Previous declarations were the Setapak Declaration (1967), Petaling Jaya Declaration (1981) Tanjong Declaration (1991) Shah Alam Declaration (2012), and DAP@50 Declaration (2016).
These declarations usually set the party's policies in dealing with a wide range of issues, from minority rights to institutional reforms.
