PUTRAJAYA: DAP’s heavy defeat in last year’s Sabah state election has prompted the party to let its delegates decide whether it should stay in the Unity Government or return to the backbenches, says secretary-general Anthony Loke (pic).
Loke, who is also the Transport Minister, said the Sabah result was a clear message that voters there had rejected the party, adding that its central executive committee (CEC) chose to put the question to the floor of the national conference rather than settle it internally.
“A big decision like this should be made collectively by the delegates, and not by just 40 people in the CEC,” he said in his policy speech at the Putrajaya International Convention Centre (PICC) on Sunday (Aug 16).
In the Nov 29 Sabah polls last year, DAP failed to win any of the eight seats it contested after having previously won six seats in 2020.
Loke said delegates would choose between staying on to push promised reforms or returning to the backbenches as a pressure group, acknowledging that being in government carried constraints including responsibility for unpopular decisions.
He noted that DAP had been in the Federal Government for nearly three years and eight months, longer than its first stint of 22 months from 2018.
Meanwhile, Loke pledged full backing for the Federal Government’s plan to abolish the Universities and University Colleges Act 1971 (Auku), a day after Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim said he would take the proposal to the Cabinet.
Loke said DAP had campaigned for the repeal for decades and revealed that he was a victim of the law as a student, describing a climate of fear on campus.
He urged Anwar to carry the same spirit into wider reforms, emphasising that no Malaysian should be denied higher education because of their background.
DAP is expected to finalise its decision on whether to remain in the Federal Government by Sunday evening.
