DAP to decide on its future in government on Aug 16

KUALA LUMPUR - DAP will decide its position in the Federal Government at the party’s National Congress, scheduled to take place on Aug 16.

Its Secretary-General, Anthony Loke, said a motion on the matter will be tabled to delegates before being decided by nearly 4,000 delegates eligible to attend the congress.

“At tonight’s CEC meeting, we decided to table a motion at DAP’s National Congress on Aug 16.

“The motion is to determine whether DAP will remain in government until the end of the current Parliament’s term or otherwise,” he said at a press conference after the DAP Central Executive Committee (CEC) meeting at the party’s headquarters here on Monday night.

Loke said the decision on the matter will not be made by the CEC, but will instead be left entirely to the delegates out of respect for the party’s internal democratic process.

According to him, more than 4,000 delegates will be given complete freedom to vote by secret ballot without being influenced by any official stance from the party leadership.

“We leave it to the wisdom of the delegates to decide whether DAP should remain in government until the end of this term or otherwise.

“That decision is not made by the CEC, but by the delegates, because it is a major decision that must be made collectively,” he said.

Loke said the CEC deliberately did not take any official position on the motion to ensure every delegate is free to make their own decision.

“We did debate this matter within the CEC, but the CEC did not want to take any official stance because what matters is that the delegates make the decision.

“They will vote by secret ballot, not by a show of hands. So they have absolute freedom to determine their own positions,” he added.

Loke said that, as a party that practises internal democracy, the decision on DAP’s position in government cannot be determined solely by the Secretary-General, the National Chairman or the party’s Cabinet members.

“Even though I am Secretary-General and Gobind Singh Deo is National Chairman, this decision is not made by us.

“It is the delegates who will make that decision as a collective decision of the DAP party and we will be guided by the decision made on Aug 16,” he said.

Commenting on DAP’s relationship within Pakatan Harapan (PH), Loke said the motion focuses solely on the party’s position in the Federal Government and not DAP’s position within the coalition.

“If the decision is to remain in government, then we will continue to be in Pakatan Harapan. For now, the question of our position in PH does not arise because this motion focuses only on DAP’s role in government,” he said.