KLANG, March 26 — It is important for Pakatan Harapan and its allies in the unity government in Selangor to win in the state elections as this will ensure the country’s political stability, said DAP secretary-general Anthony Loke Siew Fook.

As such, DAP secretary-general Anthony Loke Siew Fook said PH and its allies in the unity government must win and get a convincing mandate in Selangor in the upcoming state elections.

"In Selangor, our strength is PH. The people of Selangor have given us the mandate and they support the PH government in the state. This is obvious as seen in our victory in Gombak parliamentary constituency as well as other areas in the 15th General Election (GE15).

"So our challenge in the second phase after the first 100 days (of the unity government) is to win and get a convincing mandate from the people, especially in PH-led states,” he said at the opening of Selangor DAP 2023 Annual Convention here today.

Also present were Selangor PH chairman (Menteri Besar) Datuk Seri Amirudin Shari and Selangor DAP chairman Gobind Singh Deo.

In the meantime, Loke who is also the Minister of Transport, said the target set is to defend the 16 state seats held by DAP in Selangor as a key performance indicator (KPI) for the formation of a mature and stable state government.

"In GE14, we (DAP) won 16 seats even though we lost one elected representative. It’s not because we lost, but one of our state assemblymen jumped (to another party), but we are confident that DAP will win back that seat,” he said.

Meanwhile, Loke said Selangor DAP has played an important role in building the party, especially in recruiting and unearthing the talents of young people as its future leadership.

He said this is because Selangor is in a strategic position, close to the federal capital and most of the administrative and economic centres are in the state, thus making it the main focus or most central in the country.

"Hence, many Malaysians from all over the country study, work and live in Selangor though they may not have been born here.

"So in Selangor, DAP must play a role as a party that provides opportunities to young people so that talents can be unearthed to keep the party’s leadership and machinery strong because many young leaders in DAP today started out in Selangor,” he said. — Bernama