The Democratic Action Party (DAP; ) is a social democratic political party in Malaysia, sitting on the centre-left of the political spectrum. As one of three component parties of the Pakatan Harapan (PH) coalition, it formed the federal government after defeating Barisan Nasional (BN) in the 2018 Malaysian general election, ending the party's 53 year-long stay in the opposition. However, before the coalition finished its first term, defections from partnering parties caused it to lose power after 22 months, culminating in the 2020 Malaysian political crisis. At the 2022 Malaysian general election, the PH coalition which the DAP was part of was returned to power again, albeit without a majority, leading it to form a unity coalition government with its traditional political rivals.
The DAP was founded in 1965 by Malaya–based members of the Singaporean People's Action Party (PAP), Chen Man Hin and Devan Nair, shortly after Singapore's expulsion from Malaysia. Singapore's expulsion was in part due to intense ideological differences between the PAP and the federal government, led by the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO). UMNO favoured the idea of Ketuanan Melayu and Malay nationalism for the country. In contrast, the PAP favoured a more egalitarian and civic nationalist Malaysian Malaysia, which the DAP would continue to espouse. Following the expulsion, the PAP was elected as the ruling government of a newly sovereign Singapore and would continue to operate on a platform of civic nationalism. However, unlike the DAP, the PAP became more conservative and moved towards the centre-right.
Historically a democratic socialist party, the DAP draws much of its support from progressive voters with a stable electorate from voters of cities, coastal regions, the middle class, and the working class. The party's strongholds are primarily in the urban and semi-urban areas of Penang, Perak, Selangor, Negeri Sembilan, Johor, Malacca and the Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur. In the 2018 Malaysian general election, the party contested in 47 federal and 104 state constituencies under the banner of its ally the People's Justice Party, winning 42 and 102 seats respectively, except in Sarawak, where the party's state branch chose to contest under its own banner.
History
Formation by ex-PAP members The party is the direct successor of the Peninsular Malayan branch of the Singapore–based People's Action Party (PAP), which was then known as the People's Action Party of Malaya (PAP–M). Singapore's expulsion from Malaysia led to its deregistration in 1965 by the Registrar of Societies (RoS).Goh, Cheng Teik (1994). Malaysia: Beyond Communal Politics, p. 51. Pelanduk Publications. . The deregistered party's leadership consisted of Devan Nair (secretary-general), Chen Man Hin (chairman), D. P. Xavier (assistant secretary-general), Goh Hock Guan (vice-chairman) and Seeveratnam Sinnathamby (treasurer), who was the younger brother of Singapore minister S. Rajaratnam, with Zain Azahari bin Zainal Abidin, Chin Chan Sung, Michael Khong Chye Huat, Tan Chong Bee and Too Chee Cheong as committee members.
On 11 October that year, the name "Democratic Action Party (DAP)" was chosen and officially formed by the remnants of the PAP–M. However, the registration of the party was delayed to 18 March 1966 while the ruling Alliance Party laid out new conditions for the registration of political parties in the Societies Act 1966. While awaiting the party's registration, party chairman Chen Man Hin won the state constituency of Rahang, Negeri Sembilan as an independent in December 1965. In August that year, the official party organ, The Rocket, was first published.
The party adopted the "Setapak Declaration" at the first DAP National Congress held on 29 July 1967, declaring itself "irrevocably committed to the ideal of a free, democratic and socialist Malaysia, based on the principles of racial and religious equality, social and economic justice and founded on the institution of parliamentary democracy", and later joined the Socialist International (SI), participating in the organisation's International Council in Zurich, Switzerland.
Early years, 1969 election and crackdown In 1967, the party was involved in discussions to form a united front of opposition parties against the Alliance coalition ahead of the 1969 general election, although these efforts were eventually unsuccessful. In March 1968, the party reached an agreement with the People's Progressive Party (PPP) not to contest against each other in the state of Perak for the upcoming general election. The DAP attempted to achieve a similar arrangement with the United Democratic Party (UDP), whose base was in Penang, but its leader Lim Chong Eu rejected the proposal and sarcastically thanked DAP secretary general Goh Hock Guan for "his very smug condescension." Later that same month, the newly formed Parti Gerakan Rakyat Malaysia (Gerakan) led by Syed Hussein Alatas suggested that the DAP merge into the new party, an offer that was declined.
Devan Nair, the co-founder of the DAP, returned to Singapore in 1969 after being withdrawn as a candidate for the general election that year. Lee Kuan Yew, at the time the Prime Minister of Singapore, explained in 1981 that "the Cabinet decided that Singapore–Malaysia relations would always be bedevilled if Devan Nair remained a DAP leader. I persuaded him to come back". Nair eventually became the President of Singapore from 1981 to 1985. Eventually, the DAP contested a general election for the first time in 1969 together with both the PPP and Gerakan in an electoral pact but under separate banners. In its campaign, the party opposed Bumiputera privileges guaranteed under Article 153 of the Constitution and continued Lee Kuan Yew's call for a "Malaysian Malaysia", which irked many Malay ultras. The "Malaysian Malaysia" idea was originally conveyed by Lee in the Dewan Rakyat prior to Singapore's expulsion: "Malaysia – to whom does it belong? To Malaysians. But who are Malaysians? I hope I am, Mr Speaker, Sir. But sometimes, sitting in this chamber, I doubt whether I am allowed to be a Malaysian".
The election results of 1969 saw the DAP winning 13 parliamentary seats and 31 state assembly seats, securing 11.96% of the valid votes cast. Gerakan also made significant gains, campaigning on a similar platform in Penang in which the Bumiputeras made up a minority of the state. That election represented the largest breakthrough for an opposition party in Malaysia prior to 2008 and came close to unseating the ruling Alliance. However, political rallies that followed triggered racial violence particularly between the Chinese and the Malays, resulting in the 13 May incident which saw hundreds of deaths. Parliament was suspended, and the National Operations Council (NOC) was established to govern the country until 1971.Goh, pp. 19, 39. After the 1969 general election, the DAP would never come close to repeating its past successes for the next 38 years. Although the DAP remained a major opposition party, the ruling Alliance coalition and later its successor Barisan Nasional (BN) would clung solidly to its two-thirds parliamentary majority. The DAP, however, continued campaigning on its platform of abolishing the Bumiputera privileges, securing equal rights for all Malaysians and to establishing a democratic socialist state in Malaysia.
1970–2007 The party boycotted the National Consultative Council, a body formed in the aftermath of the 1969 racial riots to "establish positive and practical guidelines for inter-racial co-operation and social integration", in protest of the government's continued detention of its secretary-general, Lim Kit Siang, under the Internal Security Act. Lim had succeeded Goh in the role following the latter's resignation in the aftermath of the 13 May incident, which precipitated a sharp deterioration in relations between the two and precipitated his exit from the party in 1973.
In 1971, secret talks were held between Goh and the Malaysian Chinese Association (MCA) under Tan Siew Sin, where Tan urged the DAP to withdraw its candidate in the Bekok by-election to the Johor legislative assembly as part of a merger so as to strengthen Chinese representation in government and prevent racial polarisation. The talks' existence was leaked to the media, and while a merger of any kind was rejected, it sparked a backlash among the DAP's non-Chinese members. It was also subsequently revealed that Tan had engaged with Lim directly about the possibility of a merger a year prior. This appeared to have directly resulted in the resignation of party vice-president and parliamentary whip Soorian Arjunan, who criticised the party's dedication to multiracialism as a myth.
This period immediately after the 13 May incident also coincided with the party's adoption, under Lim's leadership, of an even more confrontational attitude against the government. It actively opposed the Constitution (Amendment) Act 1971 which allowed for the limitation of freedom of speech concerning specific topics, inclduing Bumiputera privileges, in the interest of public order, and the accompanying amendment to the Sedition Act to that effect. It was the only party aside from the PPP to oppose the latter in parliament.Means, Gordon P. (1991). Malaysian Politics: The Second Generation, pp. 14, 15. Oxford University Press. .
Over the course of the next few decades, the party would suffer a number of splits and defections, primarily to the MCA and Gerakan. Among the most notable were Yap Pian Hon, who defected to the MCA in 1974. This trend would result in the party's adoption of an anti-"political kangaroos" or "frogs" stance—referring to elected representatives who cross the floor— and support for an "anti-hopping law".
In 1978, the party experienced a split when founding member and Penang state chairman Yeap Ghim Guan left and formed the Socialist Democratic Party following a power struggle against national leadership. Yeap was joined by the entire state party's committee as well as the MP for Petaling Oh Keng Seng. They were later joined by party stalwart Fan Yew Teng, who had served as acting secretary-general while Lim was detained under the Internal Security Act and was the MP for Menglembu. Those who had left the party all labelled Lim's leadership as "dictatorial".
The party suffered more defections in the lead-up to the 1978 Malaysian general election, when one of its most prominent Malay members, Daing Ibrahim Othman, left the party in protest of the leadership's decision to move him to another constituency, which was followed by a number of resignations in Negeri Sembilan for similar reasons.
In 1979, the party gained a presence in Sarawak when several disgruntled SUPP members decided to form a state DAP chapter in the run-up to the 1979 Sarawak state election.
In 1981, Penang once again became the locus for a major split, this time due to conflict between the English- and Chinese-educated factions, with the latter coming to feel that they were being discriminated against for their educational and social background. The inciting event was the 1980 Pengkalan Kota by-election, where the English-educated faction's preferred candidate was chosen and subsequently lost against an MCA candidate. Over the course of the crisis, the party was estimated to have lost as much as 10% of its membership, and would lose three MPs and four members of state legislative assemblies, or MLAs, through expulsions and resignations; the "Gang of Three" of Seow Hun Kim MP and MLA, Chin Nyok Soo MLA, Goh Lin Eam, followed by Chan Teck Chan MP and MLA, Ooi Kan Kwong MLA, and Wong Hoong Keat MP. All of them would go on to join the MCA, with the exception of Ooi, who joined Gerakan.