The DAP has been asked to prove its multi-racial composition by selecting five out of the eight Malay candidates contesting at its party election to be held in Penang this weekend.

"We hope this is not just more rhetoric from the party. Prove it now," said Penang Malay Congress president Rahmad Isahak.

NONE Rahmad, ( left ) who claimed the NGO represents the voice of the community in the state, said his team would be seriously monitoring the DAP's 16th national congress, where internal polls would be held.

"This appears to be the first phase where the DAP has shown its sincerity by recruiting more Malays.

"In the past, members of the community had labelled the party as anti-Malay," said Rahmad.

"If five of the eight candidates can be selected into the 30 central committee members line-up, this would surely open up a new beginning for DAP to strengthen the position of the community," he added.

"After this, they must ensure the positions of the Malay leaders by actually fielding them as candidates in the 13th general election," stressed Rahmad at a press conference today.

65 candidates for 20 CEC posts

As of today, 65 candidates will be vying for 20 CEC posts. With the exception of several new faces, most of the nominees are in the current list, whose term ends this year.

However, since winning the DAP Socialist Youth chief post last week, Bahau assemblyperson Teo Kok Siong has expressed his intention not to contest as he wants to focus more on the wing's development.

The eight Malay candidates in the list are Ahmad Ton, Ariffin S.M.Omar, Harun Ahmad, Solaiman Syed Ibrahim, Tengku Zulpuri Shah Raja Puji, Zairil Khir Johari, Zulkifli Mohd. Noor and Roseli Abd. Ghani.

The 20 who will be elected by about 2,500 delegates, many of whom are new members. They will later pick another 10 from the list to make up the new CEC leadership.

Meanwhile, Rahmad called on DAP to appreciate the contributions of two veteran Malay leaders - Ahmad and Zulkifli - by allowing them to continue to serve, saying they had done much for the party for about 25 years.

DAP Malays for GE

The PMC has been calling for Malay candidates to be given a chance to contest, even going as far as urging PKR to give up seats which it has lost in the 2008 election.

dapsy agm 091212 lim guan eng 02 Rahmad urged the party's secretary general Lim Guan Eng ( left ) to declare the numbers of Malay candidates to be fielded in the coming polls in his opening speech at the national congress.

"There is no need to mention names of candidates or even the seats contesting. Just send a message to the people who often think that DAP is anti-Malay and that it would never allow a Malay to take part in the election," said Rahmad.

"The polls are so near that there is no longer any need to withhold the information about Malay candidates if DAP truly wants the support of the community here," he added.

Rahmad said he does not foresee any problems for the DAP to declare its intention to field Malay candidates in the GE in one of its 19 seats.

Pakatan Rakyat holds 29 seats in Penang, with PKR having nine and PAS one.