A political analyst suggests DAP should leave the Cabinet to halt electoral decline after losing key seats in Negeri Sembilan, including Anthony Loke’s.
PETALING JAYA: DAP should leave the Cabinet while continuing to back Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim from outside the government if it hopes to arrest its worsening electoral decline following Pakatan Harapan’s (PH) defeat in the Negeri Sembilan state election, a political analyst said.
Pacific Research Centre of Malaysia principal adviser Dr Oh Ei Sun said such a move would allow DAP to rebuild support among its traditional voter base without destabilising the federal administration.
“I think DAP should leave the Cabinet but still support the prime minister. They should support the government from outside. That way they can stop the electoral haemorrhage,“ he told theSun.
PH suffered a bruising defeat in Saturday’s state election, winning only 11 of the 36 seats, while BN secured 18 and PN seven, handing the BN-PN alliance a commanding two-thirds majority in the state assembly.
Oh said he had expected PH to fare even worse, adding that BN’s decision to align with PN rather than continue its partnership with PH proved decisive.
“Actually, BN could have continued to work with PH to form the coalition government again.”
However, he dismissed the possibility of BN reconsidering and reviving its alliance with PH following the election.
Oh said the result has fundamentally altered the political equation, leaving BN with little incentive to return to its previous arrangement.
“There is no incentive, because PH is a sinking ship being abandoned by its own supporters.”
He attributed PH’s poor showing to growing frustration among DAP’s traditional supporters, who believed the Unity government had failed to deliver reforms quickly enough, while the BN-PN partnership successfully consolidated Malay support.
Oh said remaining in the Cabinet left DAP bearing the political cost of the government’s slow pace of reform without giving the party enough distance to reconnect with its core supporters.
“If you are part of the government and the government is slow on reform, you lose your traditional support base.”
Asked why the Royal Commission of Inquiry report on Tabung Haji failed to influence voter sentiment, Oh said its findings lacked clear accountability.
“It was rather vague. It didn’t pin blame on specific politicians.”
DAP contested 11 seats but won only nine, losing the mixed constituencies of Chennah and Repah to MCA.
The biggest upset came in Chennah, where DAP secretary-general and Transport Minister Anthony Loke lost the seat he had held since 2013.
Loke, who won the constituency by more than 2,200 votes in 2023, was defeated by MCA’s Siow Kong Choon by 688 votes in Saturday’s straight fight, polling 5,038 votes against Siow’s 5,726 – a swing of nearly 3,000 votes.
The constituency has an almost even ethnic composition, with Malays making up 46.3% voters and Chinese 44.3%.
In Repah, DAP’s Veerapan Superamaniam lost to MCA’s Koh Kim Swee by 444 votes.
Caretaker Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Aminuddin Harun also lost the Linggi seat to Umno’s Mohd Faizal Ramli by a 2,976-vote majority in a three-cornered contest.
Loke’s defeat carried particular significance given his role as DAP secretary-general.
Following the result, he hinted that he was considering stepping down as Negeri Sembilan DAP chairman.
The setback comes just weeks before DAP’s National Congress on Aug 16, which was initially convened to review the party’s position in the Unity government following its wipeout in last November’s Sabah election, where it lost all eight seats it contested.
As recently as July 17, Loke ruled out DAP leaving PH before the end of the government’s term, telling CNA that he remained “a believer in coalition politics”.
On July 24, he reiterated that the Aug 16 congress was intended as a review of the party’s direction rather than a precursor to withdrawing from the Unity government.
Saturday’s defeat in Negeri Sembilan, however, is expected to intensify internal pressure on DAP to reassess its role in the coalition and its strategy for regaining voter support.
