PUTRAJAYA: DAP must take stock of what it has achieved - and where it has fallen short - after three-and-a-half years in the federal government before deciding its next course of action, says party national chairman Gobind Singh Deo.
The Digital Minister said the party needed to assess its performance in government and determine whether it should move backwards or press ahead with reforms it had championed during its decades in opposition.
“Three-and-a-half years is not a long time compared with previous administrations that governed for decades.
“But people out there have asked me why, after three-and-a-half years, not all have been implemented. This is something we need to think about,” he said when opening the DAP national congress here on Sunday (Aug 16).
Gobind cited several reforms previously advocated by DAP, including separating the roles of the Attorney General and Public Prosecutor, limiting the prime minister’s tenure to two terms, and amending the Security Offences (Special Measures) Act 2012 and the Peaceful Assembly Act.
He said party members now had a responsibility to decide DAP’s future direction and what it hoped to achieve during the remaining 18 months of the government’s term.
Gobind, who is Damansara MP, said recent state election results had also demonstrated the need for the party to reassess how it should move forward.
He acknowledged that governing as part of a unity administration required parties with different manifestos to identify policies they could agree on and implement collectively.
Gobind said the government had achieved political stability, attracted major foreign investments and strengthened the ringgit, but stressed that economic difficulties affecting ordinary Malaysians must still be addressed.
He said DAP leaders, including himself, had urged Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim to take economic reforms that would provide tangible assistance to the people more seriously.
Gobind also proposed special parliamentary sittings to pass institutional reforms and address challenges affecting micro, small and medium enterprises, students and the implementation of e-Invoicing.
