MUAR: There is no need for DAP to abandon its its secular nation agenda or its 'Malaysian Malaysia' slogan as suggested by an Umno leader, says Anthony Loke.
The DAP secretary-general said that an understanding has already been achieved among parties under the unity government before its formation.
“DAP has never asked any party to amend its constitution. Each party has its own principles and ideology but what is important is when we form the unity government, we agree to work together at maintaining several key parameters," he said.
Loke added that the most important parameter is to uphold and defend the Federal Constitution and the provisions under it.
"We support the principles under the Constitution, including the status of Islam as the Federal religion, Bahasa Melayu as the national language, Article 153, and the status of Malay Rulers,” he said, adding that those are the principles that are important to the Malays.
He added that Umno president Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi has also expressed his satisfaction with DAP's explanation before joining hands with Pakatan Harapan to form the unity government.
"There is no need to bring up polemics that will only affect the confidence of the people. The focus should now be on working hard to gain the support of voters in the Pulai and Simpang Jeram by-elections," he said.
Loke said this to the press after a Pakatan Harapan ceramah at Wisma DAP Muar on Friday (Sept 1) night when asked to comment on Umno supreme council member Datuk Nur Jazlan Mohamed’s statement.
In a Facebook post, Nur Jazlan said that if DAP really wants the support of Malays through cooperation with Umno, it needs to make big changes to achieve success in GE16.
The Umno Pulai division chief said that there was no other way to convince Malays that DAP today is different from before, apart from it being willing to drop the Secular Nation agenda and the Malaysia Malaysian slogan in its party constitution.
“Those two agendas continue to traumatise Malays and make them unable to accept DAP. The question is whether DAP dares to make such a big sacrifice for the sake of their political survival,” said Nur Jazlan.
Loke added that voters are more interested in evaluating the track record and work of their representatives and not their party ideology.
“Even in my own constituencies, both parliament and state seats, I still win with a pretty high majority despite the areas having a high percentage of Malay voters.
“This shows that voters look at the way we work, our approach and services, not out party ideology,” he said.
On this, Loke added that voters are more interested in evaluating the track record and the work done by their representatives and not their party's ideology.
“Even in my own constituencies, both parliament and state seats, I still win with a pretty high majority despite the areas having a high percentage of Malay voters. This shows that voters look at the way we work, our approach and services, not out party ideology,” he said.
Asked if Nur Jazlan's statement has affected the Pulai and Simpang Jeram by-elections, he said that it did not.
“It has not affected the by-elections as DAP is not contesting in it, the candidates are both from Parti Amanah Negara (Amanah). This is just a person’s opinion. People give their opinions every day, not an issue. That is his right,” he said.
