DAP must be self-reliant for Malay votes, Anthony Loke says

KUALA LUMPUR, July 18 — DAP will have to work on its own to win over support from Malay voters, the political party’s secretary-general Anthony Loke has said.

In an interview with local daily Sin Chew Daily, Loke said that there were no Malay-based political parties in Malaysia that had not tried to discredit DAP, and that DAP had also found itself in the position of having worked with these different Malay parties at different points in time.

“PAS was in the past our coalition ally, at that time Umno played the role of discrediting, PAS the role of defending, now the situation is the complete opposite: PAS smears us, Umno helps us,” he was quoted saying.

According to Sin Chew Daily, he was responding to a question on whether Malay voters would vote for DAP in the state elections next month, in light of Umno’s demonisation of DAP in the past but with the two parties now being foes-turned-allies.

Loke reportedly said DAP would have to rely on its own to gain Malay support, even as it maintains its stand as a political party for everyone in the country.

“All this while we stressed that DAP is a party for all, while preserving the Chinese vote-base at the same time, we also have to win the support of Malay voters, this to us is a big challenge, not easy to balance.

“Whether DAP can get the approval/acknowledgment of the Malays, I think need to rely on our own efforts, how to prove that DAP is a party for all, Malaysia’s politics should progress in this direction,” he was quoted saying by Sin Chew Daily.

While DAP had in the past been accused by political opponents of being pro-Chinese, the party has a multiracial membership and leadership.

Polling day for the six state elections in Selangor, Penang, Negeri Sembilan, Kedah, Kelantan, and Terengganu is on August 12.

Pakatan Harapan (PH) which includes DAP and Barisan Nasional (BN), which includes Umno, will be working together in these state elections, and are expected to go head-to-head with Perikatan Nasional (PN) which includes Malay-based parties PAS and Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia.