The 2025 Democratic Action Party National Congress, or the 18th Democratic Action Party National Congress, was a Malaysian political event that was held in IDCC Ideal Convention Centre, Shah Alam, Selangor on 16 March 2025. The event elected the Central Executive Committee (CEC), the highest decision-making body of the Democratic Action Party (DAP), a component party of the Pakatan Harapan (PH) coalition, for the next 3-year term, from 2025 to 2028. During the congress, the delegates voted for candidates for the CEC. The 30 candidates who won the most votes, with 9 women, were elected to the CEC.
Background The congress is the 18th in the history of the party. It is the first since the party became part of the federal government, as a component party of the PH coalition, which formed a coalition government with the Members of Parliament (MPs) and Senators of Barisan Nasional (BN), Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS), Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS), Heritage Party (WARISAN) with the support, confidence and supply of the Social Democratic Harmony Party (KDM), Parti Bangsa Malaysia (PBM) and independent MPs as a result of a hung parliament elected in the 2022 general election. The government led by Chairman of PH Anwar Ibrahim as Prime Minister was named the 'Unity Government', named after the large number of coalitions and parties forming the government despite technically not being a unity government, a type of government where there is no opposition in Parliament, however, Perikatan Nasional (PN) and the Malaysian United Democratic Alliance (MUDA) are the opposition coalition and party in Parliament, and 'Madani Government', named after the government slogan 'Malaysia Madani'. The previous 17 congresses were held when the party was in the opposition, with the 17th and most recent one on 20 March 2022. Although this is the second time the party became a part of the government, the party did not hold a congress during its brief first term in government, from the 10 May 2018 to 24 February 2020, the time between the 16th on 12 November 2017 and 17th congress. The congress was to elect the CEC for the 3-year term from 2025 to 2028, approve the amendments to the party constitution, among others.
Congress leadership and attendance Officers and attendees The chair of the congress was State Advisor of DAP of Pahang Leong Ngah Ngah and the vice chairs of the congress were Senators Noorita Sual and Kesavadas Achyuthan Nair while the returning officer of the CEC election was Desmond Tan. On 3 March 2025, Sim confirmed the attendance of Prime Minister, Minister of Finance, Chairman of PH, President of the People's Justice Party (PKR) and MP for Tambun Anwar Ibrahim, Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, President of the National Trust Party (AMANAH) and MP for Kota Raja Mohamad Sabu, Minister of Entrepreneur and Cooperatives Development, President of the United Progressive Kinabalu Organisation (UPKO) and MP for Penampang Ewon Benedick as well as Deputy Minister of Domestic Trade and Costs of Living, Senator and Secretary-General of PKR Fuziah Salleh as the guests of the congress representing fellow PH component parties. Anwar, Mohamad and Ewon later attended. In addition to them, Minister of Home Affairs, Senator and Advisor of the Management Committee of PKR Saifuddin Nasution Ismail, Deputy Minister of National Unity, Senator and Vice President of PKR Saraswathy Kandasami, Deputy Minister of Defence, MP for Alor Gajah and Vice President of AMANAH Adly Zahari also turned up at the congress.
Selection of delegates The Constitution of DAP states that each party branch of at least 25 members has to send 2 delegates, usually the chairman and vice chairman, to the congress to vote in the CEC election. An additional delegate, usually the secretary, is allowed for branches with membership exceeding 50 and for branches exceeding 100 members, an incremental addition is allowed for every additional 100 paid up members. A branch usually sent 2 to 3 delegates. All elected representatives, the MPs and Members of the Legislative Assembly (MLAs) of the party, alongside other incumbent CEC members are also entitled to attend the congress as delegates. The party had 40 MPs and 90 MLAs at the time of the congress. According to Khoo Poay Tiong, the incumbent Assistant National Organising Secretary, the number of delegates was 4,203, the highest in the history of the party congress. The delegates were from 1,650 party branches nationwide, with an average number of 2.55 delegates per branch.
Nominating and voting Each party branch nominated 30 candidates for the CEC, and each candidates must receive at least 2 branch nominations to qualify for the election. 107 party members qualified. The party notified the candidates, and they were given 14 days to decide whether to accept the nomination, the candidates who accepted were still allowed to withdraw from the election. The votes received by the withdrawn candidates were invalid. The nominations closed on 31 January 2025 and the deadline on accepting the nominations was on 14 February 2025. After that, the party headquarters verified the list of candidates. The full list of candidates for the election was then announced by Sim on 3 March 2025. 70 candidates accepted. 6 later withdrew from the election, they were Edmund Teoh Kheng Yaik on 14 March 2025 as well as Kalidas Komarawelo, Kaliyappan P Renganathan, Nicole Tan Lee Koon, Phee Syn Tze and Soon Lip Chee on 15 March 2025. 64 others remained in the election. According to Khoo, the party appointed a private international audit firm to handle the vote counting and ballot opening process to ensure the transparency and fairness of the election. Due to the large number of delegates and the limited venue capacity, only the delegates were allowed to enter the hall during the congress. The party headquarters also named a 300-member special task force to maintain order at the venue. Clause VIII Section 14 allows each delegate to vote for 30 members to elect the CEC for the upcoming term of 3 years.
Results Candidates Clause VIII Section 16 of the Constitution of DAP states that a 30% quota of the CEC elected membership, which is 9 members, is reserved for female candidates. The full list of candidates was announced on 3 March 2025. There were 70 candidates, out of them, 55 were men while 15 were women.
Elected Co-opted DefeatedWithdrawn No. Name Gender Number of votes Rank Position CEC position before the election CEC position after the election References 18 Gobind Singh Deo Male 2,785 1 National Deputy Chairman National Chairman 11 Chong Chieng Jen Male 2,631 2 59 Teo Nie Ching Female 2,585 3 National Publicity Secretary National Vice Chairperson 35 Ng Suee Lim Male 2,563 4 Assistant National Organising Secretary National Vice Chairman 33 Anthony Loke Siew Fook Male 2,508 5 Secretary-General Secretary-General 67 Yeo Bee Yin Female 2,503 6 – National Publicity Secretary 36 Ng Sze Han Male 2,437 7 Assistant National Treasurer Assistant National Treasurer 23 Khoo Poay Tiong Male 2,390 8 Assistant National Organising Secretary National Organising Secretary 8 Chan Foong Hin Male 2,362 9 Committee Member National Policy Director 64 Wong Kah Woh Male 2,265 10 National Political Education Director National Election Director 48 Steven Sim Chee Keong Male 2,262 11 National Organising Secretary Deputy Secretary-General 63 Vivian Wong Shir Yee Female 2,244 12 Committee Member Assistant National Political Education Director 38 Nga Kor Ming Male 2,215 13 National Vice Chairman National Deputy Chairman 24 Lee Chin Chen Male 2,172 14 Committee Member Assistant National Organising Secretary 69 Hannah Yeoh Tseow Suan Female 2,169 15 Assistant National Publicity Secretary Deputy Secretary-General 1 Alice Lau Kiong Yieng Female 2,156 16 Committee Member Assistant International Secretary 32 Liow Cai Tung Female 2,139 17 – Committee Member 58 Teo Kok Seong Male 2,107 18 Committee Member Committee Member 12 Chow Kon Yeow Male 2,101 19 National Vice Chairman Committee Member 54 Syahredzan Johan Male 2,065 20 Committee Member National Vice Chairman 70 Young Syefura Othman Female 1,943 21 Committee Member Assistant National Publicity Secretary 27 Liew Chin Tong Male 1,929 22 Deputy Secretary-General National Strategic Director 44 Ramkarpal Singh Male 1,917 23 Head of the Legal Bureau 5 Arul Kumar Jambunathan Male 1,747 24 – National Vice Chairman 21 Kasthuriraani Patto Female 1,722 25 Vice Women Chief of DAP Assistant International Secretary International Secretary 29 Lim Guan Eng Male 1,719 26 National Chairman 25 Howard Lee Chuan How Male 1,703 27 Committee Member National Political Education Director 65 Wong Shu Qi Female 1,655 28 Assistant National Political Education Director Assistant National Publicity Secretary 55 Tan Hong Pin Male 1,585 29 MP for Bakri Committee Member Assistant National Organising Secretary 39 Ngeh Koo Ham Male 1,584 30 – National Treasurer 30 Lim Hui Ying Female 1,573 31 Committee Member Committee Member 50 Sivakumar Varatharaju Male 1,542 32 Deputy Secretary-General Committee Member 22 Kelvin Yii Lee Wuen Male 1,419 33 – Committee Member 60 Teresa Kok Suh Sim Female 1,331 34 National Vice Chairperson – 46 Sanisvara Nethaji Rayer Rajaji Rayer Male 1,311 35 Committee Member – 31 Lim Lip Eng Male 1,300 36 Committee Member – 13 Chow Yu Hui Male 1,261 37 – – 17 Ganabatirau Veraman Male 1,254 38 Assistant National Publicity Secretary – 61 Tiew Way Keng Female 1,196 39 – – 26 Leng Chau Yen Female 1,127 40 – – 14 Ean Yong Hian Wah Male 1,031 41 – – 66 Vincent Wu Him Ven Male 1,026 42 – Committee Member Committee Member 68 Yeoh Soon Hin Male 1,014 43 – Committee Member 16 Ben Fong Kok Seng Male 970 44 Treasurer of DAP of Kuala Lumpur – – 10 Chew Chong Sin Male 953 45 – – 56 Tan Kok Yew Male 857 46 State Chairman of DAP of Kedah – – 28 Lim Eng Guan Male 756 47 – – – 52 Thomas Su Keong Siong Male 755 48 Committee Member – 57 Tengku Zulpuri Shah Raja Puji Male 694 49 Deputy Secretary-General – 7 Boo Cheng Hau Male 654 50 – – – 43 Rajiv Rishyakaran Male 494 51 – – 47 Sheikh Umar Bagharib Ali Male 478 52 Committee Member Committee Member 37 Ng Yak Howe Male 443 53 – – 34 Mordi Bimol Male 299 54 – 62 Veerapan Superamaniam Male 296 55 – – 3 Apalasamy Jataliah Male 280 56 – – – 42 Pooi Weng Keong Male 268 57 – – – 45 Ravi Apalasamy Male 198 58 – – – 6 Azaha Abdul Rani Male 191 59 – – – 49 Sinasamy Subramaniam Male 178 60 – – – 53 Supian Zaharin Male 170 61 – – – 2 Ananda Rao Apparalam Male 156 62 – – – 4 Arivom Namasivaya K Kannan Male 138 63 – – – 9 Chang Choon Bak Male 109 64 – – – 15 Edmund Teoh Kheng Yaik Male N/A Publicity Secretary of DAP of Kuala Lumpur – – 19 Kalidas Komarawelo Male – – – 20 Kaliyappan P Renganathan Male – – – 40 Nicole Tan Lee Koon Female – – 41 Phee Syn Tze Female – – 51 Soon Lip Chee Male State Assistant Publicity Secretary of DAP of Penang – –
Non-candidates co-opted to the CEC 5 non-candidates, Andrew Chen Kah Eng, Papparaidu Veraman, Thulsi Thivani Manogaran, Tony Pua Kiam Wee and Yap Yee Vonne were co-opted to the CEC on 23 June 2025. Chen, Papparaidu, Thulsi Thivani and Yap were co-opted as the Committee Members while Pua was co-opted as the Chairman of the Disciplinary Committee. Co-opted No. Name Gender Position CEC position before the election CEC position after the election Date co-opted References 1 Andrew Chen Kah Eng Male – Committee Member 23 June 2025 Papparaidu Veraman Male – Committee Member 23 June 2025 Thulsi Thivani Manogaran Female – Committee Member 23 June 2025 Tony Pua Kiam Wee Male Policy Advisor to the Secretary-General of DAP – Chairman of the Disciplinary Committee 23 June 2025 Yap Yee Vonne Female – Committee Member 23 June 2025
Outgoing CEC members The following CEC members did not contest in the election for re-election. Tan Kok Wai was later co-opted to the CEC as the Advisor II on 23 June 2025. Co-opted