VETERAN party leaders will be progressively replaced by younger members, DAP secretary-general Anthony Loke said.

He said younger members will be given the opportunity to represent the party.

“Surely rejuvenation and renewal of party leadership will happen and is happening.

“It is not a case where in one election, you want to retire everyone.That will not be the case (here).

“The party will continue to give room for younger leaders to take up the leadership and to be the representative of the party both in parliament and the state assemblies. That will definitely continue but the transition and retirement will happen progressively,” the former transport minister told The Malaysian Insight.

Last month, iconic DAP leader Lim Kit Siang announced his retirement from politics.

Lim, 81, who is Iskandar Puteri, said he will not run for a central executive committee positions nor would he stand in anymore elections.

Loke thanked Lim for always putting the party ahead of himself.

“I think one good example (of this was) after the 2018 general election and after we formed the federal government; he (Lim) took a decision not to be part of the cabinet so that younger leaders, such as myself can be in the cabinet.

“So I think the party should be thankful to him for always thinking about the next generation of leaders in the party,” Loke said.

Other elected MPs from DAP aged 60 and older are Fong Kui Lun (75); Tan Kok Wai, M. Kulasegaran, Pang Hok Liong (all 64); Chan Kon Yeow, Wong Tack, Wong Ling Biu (all 63); Lim Guan Eng, Charles Santiago (both 61); and Ngeh Koo Ham (60).

Not extremist

Loke said DAP was not an extremist party as labelled by its rivals.

He said it was not fair for the party to be branded as such just because the majority of the its support came from non-Muslim communities.

“DAP is not an extremist party. This has been painted about us by our political enemies in the past 50 years or so. We have always been branded as an extremist Chinese party,” Loke said.

“We are not. We are not an extremist party but we are a Malaysian party.
 
It is a fact that most of our support comes from the Chinese and the Indian communities but that does not mean that we are just a party for the Chinese and Indians.

“We are a party for all Malaysians and we aspire to be a Malaysian party,” the Seremban MP said.

Loke said the party has always taken a moderate approach in most matters and wants to portray DAP as a Malaysian party by giving opportunities to other races to lead.

‘We must understand the context of Malaysian society and we want to project a Malaysian identity in our political approach and our political goals.

“We hope that we can project a more Malaysian identity in both our leadership and also in the slate of our candidates.

“We hope that in the future we would have more non-Chinese candidates in the DAP line-ups as well as the Chinese candidates,” he said.

Last week, Loke said that the party would lose public support if it practises a radical approach and takes an extreme stance in politics.

“If one day there are more Malays than Chinese in DAP, let it happen, what is the problem?” Loke had said in a recent interview when replying to a question whether the Chinese community would feel let down if DAP were to attract more Malay members. – April 8, 2022.