DAP is seeking to gain acceptance from all races and religions. The challenges, and efforts to attain that goal was the focus of the party’s two-day national leadership retreat this year, which concluded today.

“The closed-door session discussed research on political issues and the popularity of DAP and Pakatan Harapan. Internal debates were also held to outline DAP’s goal in their cooperation with their partners in Harapan, in order to claim Putrajaya,” DAP said in a statement today.

About 200 participants took part in the retreat in Subang Jaya, Selangor, including top leaders, lawmakers, and leaders from the parties youth and women’s wings.

Among the issues raise include the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA), the party’s various programmes, and their preparation for the upcoming Sarawak state elections.

The DAP has been trying to shake off its image as a chauvinist Chinese party, by recruiting more Malays into its ranks.

It is also trying to paint the next general elections as not a battle based on race.

A survey by the Darul Ehsan Institute in Selangor however found that almost two-thirds of the respondents (72 percent) agreed that DAP is a racial party that only looks after the interests of the Chinese.

Sixty-four percent also agreed that “DAP is an anti-Malay and anti-Islam party”.