Whither DAP's pursuit of a Malaysian Malaysia?

The 1,826 delegates who voted during the DAP’s 16th national congress over the weekend have returned a line-up that has only three Indian Malaysians and no Malay leaders.

This will no doubt be deemed shocking in many quarters, especially when the party has been touting its ‘Malaysian Malaysia’ and ‘Middle Malaysia’ stance for many years now.

It would be convenient, albeit lazy, for some to argue that all eight Malay candidates had failed to make it because the delegates are “racist, Chinese-centric” or have yet to subscribe to the multiracial mindset.

But there is no denying that the DAP will have to continue fighting the perception that it is ‘anti-Malay and anti-Muslim’ if it wants to stay relevant and qualified to form the government in a country that holds Islam as its official religion.

Senator and academician Ariffin Omar (right), who lost but has been appointed to the central executive committee (CEC), mused after the election: “We want Malays who are principled, not those who join the party today and quit tomorrow for the sake of monetary benefits.

“To me, the DAP needs a bit of time to capture the confidence of the Malays.”

Obviously, it cannot afford another Tunku Abdul Aziz Tunku Ibrahim - who is of royal descent and speaks impeccable English, but has no grassroots acceptance. After being appointed vice-president, he quit the party to become one of its harshest critiques.

Still, the CEC would have done better to appoint a grassroots leader alongside Ariffin and secretary-general Lim Guan Eng’s political secretary Zairil Khir Johari - both professionals whose ability to attract Malay support is as yet untested.

Perhaps the DAP had thought of this and calculated that professionals are quite enough because its voter base is after all in urban, Chinese-majority areas.

Former DAP Socialist Youth chief Anthony Loke urged that the duo be judged on their performance, saying “they should be given a chance to prove themselves”.

Minority rights bureau?

Another talking point is that most of the elected leaders in the CEC are from Selangor, Perak and Penang, even though the party has declared that wants to expand its influence in the two “fixed-deposit” states of Sabah and Sarawak.

Loke (left) rose to the party’s defence, saying the CEC has “unanimously appointed three leaders from (Sabah and Sarawak) - Edwin Bosi, Jimmy Wong and John Brian Anthony - to show we are serious”.

But the DAP cannot continue to lament that there are no capable or qualified leaders in ‘marginalised’ communities and therefore appeal to all to accept a similar line-up every three years.

Perhaps it is time for a capacity building and empowerment bureau to produce winnable candidates from all ethnic groups. 

In addition, the political education department must go to the ground to ‘indoctrinate’ members on the importance of a multiracial future line-up.

Perhaps a ‘minority rights bureau’ is urgently needed to educate members on appointing leaders to represent those whose rights have been marginalised, and these are not just the Malays but the Tamils, Ibans, Kadazans and other indigenous peoples.

This would be a slow process, but valuable in the long run if the party intends to stick around for the long haul.

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SUSAN LOONE is a member of the Malaysiakini team.