DAP will continue to push for Pakatan Harapan (PH) to remain intact for the next general election, but secretary-general Anthony Loke Siew Fook says the party must keep its options open as political circumstances change.
Loke said DAP had reached a point where greater flexibility was necessary, particularly in a political landscape where no party or coalition could assume it had enough strength to govern on its own.
“I do not close the door to anyone. I believe we have reached a stage where politics needs to be more flexible,” he was quoted as saying in an interview with The Straits Times.
He stressed that such flexibility would not mean abandoning principles, saying any future cooperation would depend on the circumstances and what was best for the country.
DAP’s experience since the 15th general election has already demonstrated how political calculations can change.
The party, which had spent years opposing Umno, is now part of the unity government led by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim alongside its former political rival.
Loke said DAP had to accept that it could not form a government on its own and that its ability to pursue its agenda would depend on working with other parties.
“DAP cannot form a government on its own without working with others. This is a reality we have to accept,” he said.
At the same time, DAP faces the task of maintaining its core support while trying to widen its appeal ahead of GE16.
Loke said the party believed it could still secure about 80% of the Chinese vote based on recent state election results, although he acknowledged that pushing the figure to 90% would be difficult.
He said DAP would not take the community’s support for granted.
“DAP will never take the support of the Chinese community for granted,” he said.
Loke also pointed to the difficulties faced by smaller parties trying to establish themselves outside the established political blocs, citing Muda as an example.
He said Muda had attracted attention with its young and professional candidates and idealistic platform, but failed to maintain that momentum after the election.
“The most recent example is Muda. They came with very idealistic objectives, new candidates, young people, professionals and so on.
“But after the election, they were nowhere to be seen,” he said.
Despite leaving the door open to possible cooperation with other parties, Loke said his preference was still to preserve PH.
“As far as possible, I want to preserve the PH coalition,” he said.
However, he acknowledged that the coalition’s electoral strategy could not remain fixed, with the interests of its component parties also having to be taken into account.
“Our election strategy needs to be reassessed from time to time. We need to look at the best strategy not only for DAP, but also for our partners,” he said.
For DAP, the approach ahead of GE16 appears to be straightforward: keep PH together if possible, but do not assume that the political arrangements in place today will necessarily be the ones taken into the next election. – October 4, 2026
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