PUTRAJAYA: DAP must confront Malaysia's changing demographics as the proportion of non-Malay voters – traditionally a key part of its support base – continues to shrink, a Selangor delegate told the DAP national congress on Sunday (Aug 16).
Shakir Ameer told delegates the party had to face the reality that its core electorate was growing smaller even as the country's population expanded.
"Our demographics are changing. We must accept the reality that the number of our voters, who are mostly non-Malay, is shrinking," he said.
"The population is growing, but the proportion of non-Malays keeps declining," he added.
Shakir said good governance alone was no longer enough to win elections.
"We have worked and done our best, but it is still not enough, because of the issue of narrative. This is the political reality we must understand now, compared to 15 or 20 years ago," he said.
He said racial narratives could not be met head-on with the same currency, and the party had to shift the conversation to policy, development and unity.
Shakir said DAP also had to venture beyond its traditional base, drawing a parallel with business.
"Many Chinese- and Indian-owned businesses have entered the Malay market. We must learn to do the same. We must understand other communities," he said.
That, he added, was how the party could strengthen the Pakatan Harapan brand under which it contested.
"The problems of PKR and Amanah are also DAP's problems, because we all contest under the same brand," he said.
Despite the recent setbacks, Shakir urged the party not to panic.
"We lost badly in Sabah. We lost in Johor. And recently, we lost in Negri Sembilan," he said.
Even so, party figures showed DAP had won nine of the 11 seats it contested in Negri Sembilan.
He reminded delegates that the party, now 60 years old, had weathered far worse, its leaders once detained under the Internal Security Act (ISA) during Operation Lalang.
