KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 17 — DAP Socialist Youth (Dapsy) deputy chief Muhammad Shakir Ameer said that Parti Warisan’s (Warisan) Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Apdal must consider “big tent” approach when dealing with fellow Opposition parties.
He said this was necessary to prevent Barisan Nasional from regaining power, adding that the current election system meant the former ruling coalition only needed a plurality of votes to do so.
“It has to be acknowledged that Barisan Nasional just need an average of 40 per cent of votes to be able to govern on their own again. Therefore it is obvious that we opposition parties need each other.
“Warisan has to state its direction in Peninsular and they need to discuss with PH as well soon. Once again I reiterate that we need each other,” he said in a statement.
Muhammad Shakir went on to point out to Shafie that the latter’s party has been losing leaders since the Sabah election in 2020.
He also said that DAP must not continue to be undermined and forced to make concessions.
“DAP and Pakatan Harapan have always practised the ‘big tent’ policy in bringing opposition parties together in order to face the current BN, PN, PAS, and GPS combination which have proven to be a failure with the current prime minister and the previous one as well.
“Nevertheless, we value having allies from outside the PH coalition. It would be helpful if we don’t get undermined in public by them.
“At the end of the day with this big tent approach we are upholding, any form of clashes is not going to benefit anyone,” he added.
Yesterday, Shafie said Opposition parties should consider letting their dissenting members join other parties instead of linking up with those in the ruling coalition.
For instance, he claimed, there were 1,000 DAP members in Johor who had joined Bersatu.
