Democratic Action Party

Democratic Action Party
Malay nameParti Tindakan Demokratik
ڤرتي تيندقن ديموکراتيک
Chinese name民主行动党
民主行動黨
Bîn-chú Hêng-tōng-tóng
Man4 zyu2 hang4 dung6 dong2
Mínzhǔ Xíngdòng Dǎng
Tamil nameஜனநாயக செயல் கட்சி
Jaṉanāyaka Ceyal Kaṭci
AbbreviationDAP
Secretary-GeneralAnthony Loke Siew Fook
National ChairmanLim Guan Eng
National Deputy ChairmanGobind Singh Deo
National Vice-Chairmen
Deputy Secretaries-General
Founders
Founded11 October 1965 (1965-10-11)
Legalised18 March 1966 (1966-03-18)
Split fromPeople's Action Party (Singapore)
Preceded byPeople's Action Party of Malaya
HeadquartersJalan Yew, 55100 Kuala Lumpur
NewspaperThe Rocket RoketKini
Student wingMahasiswa Roket
Youth wingDAP Socialist Youth
Membership (2022)875,584
Ideology
Political positionCentre-left[4]
National affiliationGagasan Rakyat (1990–1996)
Barisan Alternatif (1999–2004)
Pakatan Rakyat (2008–2015)
Pakatan Harapan (since 2015)
Regional affiliationNetwork of Social Democracy in Asia
International affiliationSocialist International (1987–2017)
Progressive Alliance (2012–present)
Colours  Red
  White
  Blue
SloganMalaysian Malaysia and Malaysian First
AnthemBerjuang Untuk Rakyat Malaysia!
(Fighting for the Malaysian People!)
Dewan Negara:
4 / 70
Dewan Rakyat:
40 / 222
Dewan Undangan Negeri:
90 / 611
Chief minister of states
1 / 13
Election symbol

except DAP Sarawak

DAP Sarawak only
Party flag
Website
www.dapmalaysia.org

The Democratic Action Party (abbreviation: DAP; Malay: Parti Tindakan Demokratik‬; Chinese: 民主行动党; Tamil: ஜனநாயக செயல் கட்சி) is a centre-left social democratic political party in Malaysia.[5] As one of four 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 government with 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 federal government, led by the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO), which favoured the idea of Ketuanan Melayu and Malay racial nationalism for the country. In contrast, the PAP favoured a more egalitarian and civic nationalist Malaysian Malaysia, which the DAP would continue to espouse.[3] 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.[3]

The DAP draws much of its support from secular and liberal voters with a stable electorate from voters of cities, coastal regions, the middle class (comprising professionals), and the working class.[6][7] 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.[7] 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,[nb 1] winning 42 and 102 seats respectively, except in Sarawak, where the party's state branch chose to contest under its own banner.

  1. ^ Jan Senkyr (2013). "Political Awakening in Malaysia". KAS International Reports (7): 75.
  2. ^ Nam-Kook Kim, ed. (2016). Multicultural Challenges and Redefining Identity in East Asia. Routledge. ISBN 9781317093671. ... The coalition brings together the Islamist Parti SeIslam Malaysia (PAS), the Chineseled left-liberal Democratic Action Party (DAP), originally the Malaysian branch of the Singapore People's Action Party, ...
  3. ^ a b c d Cite error: The named reference History was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ J Denis Derbyshire; Ian Derbyshire (1990). Political Systems Of The World. Allied Publishers. p. 118. ISBN 978-81-7023-307-7.
  5. ^ "About Us: Leadership". Democratic Action Party. Archived from the original on 12 June 2010. Retrieved 12 February 2018.
  6. ^ "Can Malaysia's DAP capture the Muslim and non-Chinese vote?". South China Morning Post. 12 May 2021. Retrieved 26 November 2021.
  7. ^ a b "2021/118 "Malaysia's Democratic Action Party (DAP): Background and Inner Workings" by Francis E. Hutchinson and Kevin Zhang". ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute. 7 September 2021. Retrieved 26 November 2021.


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