KUALA LUMPUR, Apr 4 — DAP must walk the talk by bringing more Malay leaders in the party’s Central Executive Committee (CEC) if it wants to get rid of the impression that the party is dominated by the ethnic Chinese.
In a report by Utusan Malaysia, former DAP assemblyman Datuk Norhizam Hassan Baktee said there should be at least six Malay representatives in the CEC which is seen to be in line with DAP’s goal to attract more Malay support in the next general election.
“Regardless of the party, everyone must make an effort and that is to put the equal race in the party leadership committee.
“As long as this does not happen, the Malays will not trust DAP,” he reportedly said.
“However, the DAP leadership needs to change, although there is no denying that the recent party election has seen a change in leadership, but there are still old guards who are in the CEC.
“So the two issues, namely the participation of the Malays and the old faces, are problems that have plagued them from then until now that need to be resolved immediately,” Norhizam added.
Yesterday, DAP secretary-general, Anthony Loke expressed concern over Malay participation in the party following the DAP CEC election on March 20 which saw Ketari state assemblyman Young Syefura Othman becoming the sole Malay representative elected into the DAP CEC for the 2022 to 2025 term out of 10 Malay representatives who contested.
However, after the election, Tengku Zulpuri Shah Raja Puji and Syahredzan Johan were appointed to the CEC.
Tengku Zulpuri and Syahredzan were both appointed by the newly minted CEC members in accordance with the party constitution.
Three other co-opted members were V Sivakumar, V Ganabatirau and Khoo Poay Tiong.
They are considered co-opted members into the CEC, and this is usually executed when there is a lack of members representing certain constituencies or certain races.
Norhizam also said the party must explain to voters the reason behind them fielding Malay candidates in elections.
“The party must be transparent in this matter. They have to explain whether to field only Malay candidates to draw votes or vice versa? Ultimately, this is up to the people to judge.
“On the other hand, DAP itself needs to change in terms of leadership. I think it is not the Malays who are fed up, the Chinese are also fed up with the performance of the recent Melaka and Johor state elections,” he said.
In the recent DAP 17th Congress, three candidates who contested in the party elections and scored the highest votes were Gobind Singh Deo, Chow Kon Yeow and Loke.
According to Loke, the CEC this term is made of leaders from three generations.
