Let bygones be bygones, Kit Siang tells Melaka DAP

He says a 15% swing in Malay votes is needed for PH to take Melaka in GE14, more than the 10% swing necessary in other states.

PETALING JAYA: Lim Kit Siang has called on the DAP in Melaka to move past its differences with the party and unite to win control of the state in the 14th general election (GE14).

In a statement today, the DAP veteran laid out the numbers required for a Pakatan Harapan (PH) victory in Peninsular Malaysia.

Although he had previously said a 10% swing in the Malay vote and a 5% swing in the non-Malay vote would be enough for PH to win 113 parliamentary seats in the peninsula, retain control of Penang and Selangor, and win control of Johor, Negeri Sembilan and Perak, he said the situation was different in Kedah and Melaka.

In order for PH to win control of Kedah, Kit Siang said a little more than the 10% Malay and 5% non-Malay swing was needed.

In Melaka, meanwhile, a 15% swing in the Malay vote and a 5% swing in the non-Malay vote was needed.

“A 10 and 5 swing will only be sufficient for PH to win 11 out of 28 state assembly seats in Melaka. This is not enough for PH to win control of the state government.

“For a change in the state government to take place, a 15% swing in the Malay vote is needed together with a 5% swing in the non-Malay vote.

“If this were to take place, PH would win a total of 17 out of 28 state seats thereby taking control of the Melaka state government.”

Acknowledging that this would not be easy, Kit Siang said DAP was nonetheless ready to work together with the Melaka chapter to achieve its goal.

“It is not a secret that DAP has faced leadership challenges in the state of Melaka in the past and in recent times. Hopefully, we can put the past behind us and work together for the future of Melaka and of the country in the run-up to GE14.”

In February, Melaka DAP was shaken by the resignation of four leaders: Kota Melaka MP Sim Tong Him and Melaka assembly members Lim Jak Wong, Chin Choon Seong and Goh Leong San.

They announced their resignation on Feb 12, citing lack of trust in the party leadership and claiming the party had deviated from its original objectives.

DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng said then that he regretted trusting the four, especially Sim who had been personally picked by Kit Siang as DAP candidate for the Tengkera state seat in the 1986 general election.

“Sim had famously said that ‘he lived as DAP and would die as a DAP man, this fact is immutable’.

“Clearly Sim has broken his pledge not just to the party but to the people who supported DAP,” Guan Eng said then.

Kit Siang said if Melaka DAP could not be united in the mission to defeat Prime Minister Najib Razak and his government, the chances of a 15-5 “Malaysian tsunami” happening in Melaka would be slim to none.

“But if we can show the way forward and work together within a strong and united PH, we can slowly but surely create the momentum for a Malaysian tsunami to happen in Melaka,” he said. - FMT