Malaysia’s Democratic Action Party (DAP) will soon decide whether to remain in Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s “unity” government, after performing poorly in a string of state elections.
The DAP, which is currently the largest party in Anwar’s Pakatan Harapan (PH) coalition, holding 40 of its 77 seats in the federal parliament, has been hemorrhaging support due to the government’s perceived mishandling of corruption cases and concerns over its commitment to promised reforms.
In a press conference today, the DAP’s Secretary-General Anthony Loke said that the party’s central executive committee (CEC) had decided to convene a special national congress on August 16, at which it would table a motion on whether the party should remain a part of Anwar’s administration.
He said that about 4,000 DAP delegates would be given the right to decide the party’s position. “The decision will be made by the delegates, not the CEC. We will leave it to their wisdom,” Loke said, as per local media. DAP currently has five ministers and seven deputy ministers in Anwar’s cabinet.
The announcement comes after PH was trounced in a state election in Negeri Sembilan on Saturday, when the coalition won just 11 of the 36 seats in the legislative assembly, down from 17 previously. The election was won by an alliance of Barisan Nasional (BN), PH’s partner at the federal level, and the pan-Malay Perikatan Nasional (PN) coalition, which collectively won 25 seats. Loke, who currently serves as minister of transport, lost his seat in the state legislative assembly, a position he had held for 13 years, prompting him to resign his post as the DAP’s chairman for Negeri Sembilan.
