DAP's July 12 meet not a special congress, clarifies Loke

The much-talked-about DAP “special congress” scheduled for July 12 is, in fact, a national conference held in accordance with the party constitution.

DAP secretary-general Anthony Loke clarified that the July 12 meeting is not a special congress or extraordinary general meeting (EGM), as misreported by some media outlets.

In an interview with Malaysiakini, he explained that under the DAP constitution, a national congress (kongres kebangsaan parti) must be held once every three years or 36 months, during which the party election is held.

He said the constitution also requires a national conference (persidangan kebangsaan parti) to be held every 18 months, except where a national congress is held in between.

“What we want to hold is a national conference, which was already scheduled for this year. It is not a special congress,” he said, adding that a national conference does not involve internal elections.

Since DAP held its national congress and election in March last year, Loke said, the party is required to hold a national conference before September this year.

He said the party merely decided to bring the conference forward to July 12 to discuss its position in the government.

Details yet to be decided

Asked about the conference details, the transport minister said the preliminary idea is for the central executive committee to table a motion, which delegates will then debate and vote on.

“The voting method may be one member, one vote - not by a show of hands, but by secret ballot, similar to a referendum,” he said.

Loke also confirmed that DAP will appoint an external pollster to conduct regular opinion polls as a reference point to gauge public sentiment toward the government.

He did not directly answer whether he was satisfied with the government’s performance and reform efforts in recent months.

“There is no point in my saying whether I am satisfied or not. What matters is that we continue pushing for reforms from within the government.

“In the past two to three months, what we can report to voters is that certain reforms have begun to be implemented.

“For example, two constitutional amendment bills: limiting the prime minister’s tenure and separating the powers of the attorney-general,” he said.

Accelerating reforms after wipeout

On Nov 29 last year, DAP suffered a crushing defeat in the Sabah state polls, where all eight of the party’s candidates were wiped out.

The party later acknowledged that both DAP and Pakatan Harapan were facing a confidence crisis and pledged to accelerate the reform agenda with Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim over the following six months.

Loke subsequently explained that if Anwar fails to deliver meaningful reforms within the next six months, DAP will reassess its role in the government.

However, he added that this does not mean DAP, which holds the largest number of federal seats in the government, would withdraw its support for the Madani administration and risk triggering political turmoil.

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