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Democratic Action Party

2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection. Related subjects: Politics and government

   The Democratic Action Party (DAP, Parti Tindakan Demokratik in Malay)
   is Malaysia's largest secular and Socialist opposition party. Its core
   constituency is urban non- Muslim voters and largely dominated by
   Malaysian Chinese, with strongholds in areas such as Penang, Perak, and
   Sarawak. It has gained prominence through its strong opposition of
   Bumiputra privileges guaranteed by Article 153 of the Constitution. As
   of 2006, it is the largest opposition party in the Dewan Rakyat, the
   lower house of Parliament.

History

   The DAP was originally the Malaysian branch of the Singaporean People's
   Action Party (PAP). However, Singapore seceded from the federation in
   1965, just two years after the territories had merged. Most of the
   Malaysian PAP members decided to remain with the original party, but
   those that decided to continue the party, including future President of
   Singapore Devan Nair, stayed in Malaysia to form the DAP in October
   1965. The party formally registered itself as a democratic socialist
   party on March 18, 1966. In the August of that year, the official party
   organ, The Rocket, was first published. At the first DAP National
   Congress held in Setapak, Kuala Lumpur on July 29, 1967, the DAP
   declared itself to be "irrevocably committed to the ideal of a free,
   democratic and socialist Malaysia, based on the principles of racial
   and religious equality, social and economic justice, and founded on the
   institution of parliamentary democracy".

   In October that year, the DAP joined 55 other socialist parties
   belonging to the Socialist International (SI) at the SI International
   Conference in Zurich, Switzerland.

   Nair, who founded the DAP, later returned to Singapore. Lee Kuan Yew,
   then Prime Minister of Singapore under the PAP, explained in 1981 that
   "the Cabinet decided that Singapore-Malaysia relations would always be
   bedevilled if Devan Nair remained a DAP leader. I persuaded him to come
   back."

   The DAP contested a general election for the first time in 1969. The
   DAP campaigned strongly against Bumiputra privileges such as those
   afforded to them by Article 153 of the Constitution. They also
   continued Lee Kuan Yew's campaign for a " Malaysian Malaysia", which
   was originally stated by Lee in Parliament as: "Malaysia — to whom does
   it belong? To Malaysians. But who are Malaysians? I hope I am, Mr
   Speaker, Sir. But sometimes, sitting in this chamber, I doubt whether I
   am allowed to be a Malaysian."

   The DAP went on to win 13 Parliamentary seats and 31 State Assembly
   seats, with 11.9% of all valid votes that were cast in the election;
   the Parti Gerakan Rakyat Malaysia (Gerakan) which campaigned on a
   similar platform also made major gains. The 1969 election marked the
   biggest gains ever made by an opposition party in Malaysia, and came
   close to seeing the ruling Alliance toppled from power. However, a
   march made by the DAP along with Gerakan as part of the opposition led
   to violence, and resulted in what was euphemistically termed the May 13
   Incident. Parliament was suspended for two years, and the executive
   branch of the government assumed power.

   When Parliament reconvened, it passed several pieces of legislation
   such as the Sedition Act that illegalised discussion of repealing
   certain portions of the Constitution. Most of these concerned Bumiputra
   privileges, such as Article 153. The DAP and the People's Progressive
   Party (PPP) were the only parties that voted against the Act, which
   passed by a vote of 125 to 17.

   After the 1969 election, the DAP never came close to repeating its past
   successes again. Although the DAP has continued to be a major
   opposition party, the government has managed to cling solidly to its
   two-thirds Parliamentary majority. The DAP, however, continued
   campaigning on its platform of abolishing Bumiputra privileges and
   establishing a socialist state in Malaysia. In 1987, several of its
   leaders, including Parliamentary Opposition Leader Lim Kit Siang, were
   detained by the government without trial under Ops Lalang for being a
   threat to national security. It is widely believed they were arrested
   for protesting the New Economic Policy (NEP) that expanded Bumiputra
   privileges.

   Following the ousting of Deputy Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim in
   September 1998, DAP co-founded the Barisan Alternatif coalition along
   with PAS and the newly formed Keadilan. However, the coalition did not
   work out very well for the DAP, with two of its top leaders, Lim Kit
   Siang and Karpal Singh losing their Parliamentary seats in the 1999
   election; the DAP managed to win only 10 out of 193 seats in
   Parliament. PAS became the leading opposition party in Parliament. It
   left the coalition in 2001 due to a disagreement with PAS over the
   issue of an Islamic state.

   In the 2004 elections, the DAP managed to capture 12 seats in
   Parliament, while PAS and Keadilan suffered major setbacks, with PAS
   losing 20 of the 27 seats it had held after the 1999 elections. The
   eventual outcome saw Lim Kit Siang, who had been elected in his
   constituency of Ipoh Timur with a majority of 10,000 votes, formally
   elected as the leader of the opposition in Parliament, a post he had
   lost to the president of PAS in 1999.

   In the 2006 Sarawak State Elections, the Democratic Action Party won 6
   of the 12 seats it contested and narrowly lost three other seats with
   narrow majorities. This is the party best showing ever in the history
   of Sarawak state elections since 1979. It is also the first time DAP
   fielded a candidate of Malay ethnicity.

Chairman and Central Executive Committee

   Lim Kit Siang was the chairman of the DAP from 1999 to 2004. Until
   then, he had been Secretary-General of the party since 1969. In 2004,
   he stepped down in favour of Karpal Singh as the new Chairman. His son,
   Lim Guan Eng became Secretary-General. Lim decided to take an advisory
   role as Chairman of the DAP Policy and Strategic Planning Commission.
   Lim remained as Parliamentary Opposition Leader.

   As of 2006, the DAP Deputy Chairman is Tan Seng Giaw, the Member of
   Parliament (MP) for Kepong. The four vice-chairmen are M. Kulasegaran,
   MP for Ipoh Barat, Zulkifli Mohammad Noor, Chow Kon Yeow and Richard
   Wong.

   The DAP also has a Central Executive Committee (CEC). In 2004, 402 (of
   591 total national delegates) delegates were present to vote for
   members of the CEC. The top three were Tan Kok Wai (MP for Cheras) with
   337 votes, Fong Po Kuan (MP for Batu Gajah) with 334 votes and Chow Kon
   Yeow with 333 votes.

Prominent leaders

Members of Parliament

     * Penang
          + Chow Kon Yeow (Tanjong)
          + Lim Hock Seng (Bagan)
          + Chong Eng (Bukit Mertajam)
          + Karpal Singh (Bukit Gelugor)
     * Perak
          + Fong Po Kuan (Batu Gajah)
          + Lim Kit Siang (Ipoh Timor)
          + M Kula Segaran (Ipoh Barat)
     * Federal Territory
          + Tan Seng Giaw (Kepong)
          + Tan Kok Wai (Cheras)
          + Fong Kui Lun (Bukit Bintang)
          + Teresa Kok Suh Sim (Seputeh)
     * Sarawak
          + Chong Chieng Jen (Bandar Kuching)

Others

   Other prominent members include Secretary General Lim Guan Eng, and
   ex-party member Tan Sri Lee Lam Thye. Lim Guan Eng was unable to
   contest in the 2004 general election due to specific legal requirements
   not being met at nomination time.

   Lee Lam Thye has since been active as a social activist, particularly
   in the Malaysian Crime Prevention Foundation, the Malaysian Red
   Crescent, the Royal Commission on Police, and the National Service
   Programme. He was previously an elected MP for Bukit Bintang.

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