After PH setback, Sim to take policy changes to Anwar

 The Penang DAP chairman says he will also discuss state government policies with chief minister Chow Kon Yeow.

Penang DAP chairman Steven Sim cheering on party supporters at a dinner to mark DAP’s 60th anniversary and 40 years since its landmark victory in Tanjong.

GEORGE TOWN:

Penang DAP chairman Steven Sim says he will meet Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim to propose policy changes following Pakatan Harapan’s defeats in Johor and Negeri Sembilan.

He said DAP must listen to voters, improve government policies, strengthen internal unity and remain firm on its principles.

Sim, who is also entrepreneur development and cooperatives minister, said he had asked his ministry officials to prepare proposals based on the concerns of small and medium-sized businesses.

“I will take these proposals to the prime minister so that he can hear the voices of the people, especially those on the ground,” he said tonight at a dinner marking DAP’s 60th anniversary and 40 years since Lim Kit Siang’s landmark victory in Tanjong.

Sim said he would also meet Penang chief minister Chow Kon Yeow to discuss state government policies and programmes that may need adjustment or improvement, aimed at strengthening public confidence in DAP.

The DAP event tonight comes after PH lost the Negeri Sembilan state election yesterday, when Barisan Nasional and Perikatan Nasional won a combined 25 of the state’s 36 seats, compared with PH’s 11.

DAP retained nine of its 11 seats, while Chennah and Repah were won by BN component party MCA.

Responding to questions on why DAP was holding the dinner so soon after the Negeri Sembilan defeat, when members might still be demoralised, Sim said DAP had faced worse setbacks before, recalling how Lim travelled to Pahang to rally party members on the same day PH lost federal power in 2020.

Sim also dismissed as arrogance a claim by PAS information chief Ahmad Fadhli Shaari that the cooperation between BN and PN could bring down the DAP-led Penang government.

“They have won and are now arrogant. Let them be with their arrogance,” Sim said, adding that DAP and PH would continue working hard to defend Penang and retain their seats in the state.

Former Tanjong MP Ng Wei Aik said that while PH’s defeat in Negeri Sembilan was a serious setback, DAP could now return to the ground and reconnect with voters.

“We have gone from government to the opposition, but we have never feared being in the opposition. It gives us the chance to return to the people and stand with them,” he said. - FMT