The appointment of two Malays into the DAP's central executive committee (CEC) is based on their abilities where they will play a role of attracting more from their community to join the party, said secretary-general Lim Guan Eng.

dap national congress 151212 new cec "We appoint people based on their ability, and we do not deny that it is a symbolic representation of the Malays into the party....Ariffin is a scholar and also a senator," said Lim at a press conference today after the CEC line-up was announced.

Lim said this when asked about the appointment of his political secretary Zairil Khir Johari and senator Ariffin Omar into the CEC line-up, after the eight Malay candidates who had contested out of a total 63 failed to make it into the top 20 list.

Asked if DAP would field Malay candidates in the coming 13th general election, Lim said the party would selected candidates who are "qualified Malaysians" and said there would be Malays amongst them.

Lim Guan Eng at DAP AGM "We want to field Malaysian citizens who are qualified and have a bright opportunity (winnable) to win (the polls).

"Yes, I confirm that there will be Malay candidates," he added, but was however tight-lipped on their identities.

He was also asked about party chairperson Karpal Singh’s one candidate one seat proposal, that was approved without any discussion and adopted unanimously by the congress.

"This resolution (including those exempted) would be determined by the top leadership as we need to consider the situation and strategy of each constituency.

"This is where we will consider exemptions which will be decided by the leadership," said Lim, who currently holds two seats - the Bagan parliamentary and Air Putih state seats.

Critics circle DAP

Meanwhile, Penang Malay Congress president Rahmad Isahak urged DAP to convince its delegates to accept Malay leaders into the party.

NONE

He said he was disappointed that none of them were elected in the party election yesterday.

“Yes, we are very upset but we realise that the power is in the hands of the delegates and not DAP itself,” he said.

Rahmad ( left ) urged that DAP should not rely on its mechanism of appointing Malays into the CEC if they are truly a multiracial party.

“It is time for DAP’s senior leadership to consider a mechanism to convince delegates to use their discretion based on a multiracial system,” he said at a press conference today.

The failure of Malay candidates to get voted in to the CEC also drew criticism from leaders from the largely race-based and Malay dominated ruling coalition BN, who wasted no time in criticising DAP for being dominated by one race.

The two-day 16th national congress held at the Penang International Sports Arena concluded by 1pm today, and included the election of new office-bearers for 2013-2015.

Reports by Ahmad Fadli KC, Koh Jun Lin, Lee Long Hui, Low Chia Ming and Susan Loone.