GE14 | The rocket is one of the most recognisable political party logos in Malaysia. It has made an appearance in every general election since 1969.

However, DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng confirmed that the party would ground its rocket for the coming general election in Peninsular Malaysia.

During a press conference at the Parliament building today, Lim said DAP agreed to use a common logo for the 14th general election.

However, Lim said, the decision would not affect Sarawak and Sabah DAP due to their autonomy.

Communications and Multimedia Minister Salleh Said Keruak said later today that Pakatan Harapan may use the PKR logo during GE14 as a strategy to fool the Malays.

Noting that DAP has said it would not use its logo in GE14 while the logo of Parti Amanah Negara might alienate Chinese voters because of its Islamic image, Bernama quoted Salleh (photo) as saying that this leaves Harapan with only the PKR logo.

Lim, who is the Penang chief minister, conceded that the move not to use the rocket logo might have an impact on its long-time supporters.

“We cannot deny the impact, but it is important for us to not only to have one-to-one fights with BN, but also to have one logo against BN, since they have undemocratically and unjustly refused to register Pakatan Harapan – both the coalition as well as the logo.

“We have no choice,” Lim added.

Lim said this was a difficult decision and would mark the first time that DAP is contesting in an election without using its own logo.

Harapan chairperson Dr Mahathir Mohamad would be unveiling the common logo during an event in Pasir Gudang, Johor, tomorrow.

Previously, Malaysiakini reported that Harapan might be using the PKR logo in the election.

A straw poll conducted by Malaysiakini in Kuala Lumpur also discovered that many DAP supporters could not recognise the PKR logo.

Salleh said in a posting on his blog sskeruak.blogspot.my: “Using the PKR logo as a common logo is a strategy to fool the Malays into believing that the pact is more Malay.”

He said the opposition leaders and several political analysts had said that the “Chinese tsunami” which began in 2008 had peaked in 2013.

“This means that Harapan has more or less maximised its Chinese support base, and if they want to go higher than the 80 parliamentary seats without the help of PAS, then it would be against the backdrop of a 'Malay tsunami', he said.

Salleh said it was the role of Mahathir and Bersatu to create the 'Malay tsunami' but PKR vice-president Rafizi Ramli has said that this has failed to happen.

“And without the 'Malay tsunami', Pakatan Harapan may fare worse than during the 2013 general election, let alone win the 120 Parliament seats that they are targeting,” Salleh added.