Founded in 1965, the Democratic Action Party is led by Karpal Singh who holds the National Chairperson post while Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng holds the Secretary-General post.
The DAP, although was pretty much independent by itself in the past, recently joined the Pakatan Rakyat alliance which is made up of various opposition parties. It is a multi-racial, secular and social democratic political party.
The DAP has been traditionally been strong in around the Federal territory, Penang and Perak and rose to stardom through the Malaysian Malaysia ideology.
Its history is traced back to the former Singapore People's Action Party(PAP). DAP was formerly the Malaysian branch of the PAP.
After the de-merger of Singapore, the Malaysian branch members stayed behind, including Devan Nair, the future Singapore President. There they continue to work on the party which then they declared "irrevocably committed to the ideal of a free, democratic and socialist Malaysia, based on the principles of racial and religious equality, social and economic justice, and founded on the institution of parliamentary democracy".
The Singapore Prime Minister then persuaded DAP's founder Devan Nair to return to Singapore, claiming that "the Cabinet decided that Singapore-Malaysia relations would always be bedevilled if Devan Nair remained a DAP leader. I persuaded him to come back."
The first time that DAP contested in the elections, in 1969, their manifesto included one that went against the Article 153, which gave the Bumiputras privileges not enjoyed by other races.
This was first campaigned by Lee Kuan Yew when he spoke in Parliament that "Malaysia to whom does it belong?
To Malaysians. But who are Malaysians? I hope I am, Mr Speaker, Sir. But sometimes, sitting in this chamber, I doubt whether I am allowed to be a Malaysian."
In the 1969 elections, the DAP won 13 Parliamentary seats and 31 state assembly seats while Gerakan, another opposition party then (Gerakan is now a component party with the BN) also won by huge majority.
This would then make the 1969 elections as one where the opposition gained the most votes in any elections apart from the most recent 2008.
The opposition however, held a march by DAP and Gerakan which eventually led to street violence and was black marked as the May 13 incident. Subsequently after that, Parliament was suspended for 2 years.
The DAP continued to remain as the dominant opposition party but would never be able to repeat their success for the next 38 years. Its manifesto has not changed where they are still actively seeking to abolish any racial inequality in the country.
One of the major events which was significant under the DAP umbrella was the Operasi Lalang where various DAP leaders were accused of being a threat to national security. They were believed to be protesting against the expansion of the New Economic Policy.
In recent times, DAP performed poorly in the 1999 elections, where Lim Kit Siang, its leader and Karpal Singh both losing their Parliamentary seats and in all the 193 seats contested, they could only win 10.
In the next election in 2004, DAP captured 12 seats while the other opposition parties lost terribly and in 2008 was where DAP had the best results, winning 28 seats in parliament while capturing the
Penang state. This would eventually see Lim Guan Eng chosen as the Chief Minister of the state.
There are various leaders in DAP who are popular and renowned among most if not all Malaysians.
Lim Kit Siang, who was the parliamentary opposition leader in the 11 th Malaysian Parliament. Kit Siang who was the former secretary-general of the party remains as the chairman of the DAP Policy and Strategic Planning Commission as well as an advisory role to the party.
Karpal Singh
Took over the chairmanship in 2004, he is a well established lawyer as well as a strong spokesperson in parliament.
Lim Guan Eng, due to some mismanagement could not contest in the 2004 elections but came back strongly which saw him and his team sweep the Penang votes to their favour, therby forming the state government.
Zenith - MalaysiaToday.com.my
