KUALA LUMPUR — DAP’s participation in a coalition government that includes Umno should not be seen as a willingness to compromise its core principles, said party deputy secretary-general Steven Sim.
Responding to criticism that DAP’s current cooperation with former political rivals is a departure from the party’s reformist and democratic values, Sim said political alliances should not be viewed as permanent.
“In politics, there’s no one who is forever your friend or your permanent enemy, but only permanent principles,” Sim said in the latest episode of Trick Lama, a podcast co-hosted by Big Boom Media Group Chief Executive Officer Datuk Zainul Arifin, Group Editor-in-Chief Terence Fernandez and Group Adviser Datuk “Rocky” Ahiruddin Attan.
Sim was citing a view held by DAP’s late chairman Karpal Singh, who had said that political parties may change partners, but their principles should remain.
Sim also said DAP, which is marking its 60th anniversary at its national congress tomorrow, had worked with different parties and in different coalitions throughout its history as an opposition party.
However, he added, political cooperation in a coalition “does not necessarily translate to compromise”.
His remarks come as DAP delegates prepare to vote at the national congress tomorrow on, among other matters, whether the party should remain in the federal government following its poor results in the Sabah election last year and its losses in the recent Johor and Negeri Sembilan state elections. The party has also come under fire for staying quiet on various transparency, governance and reform issues, along with sentiments that the long-time opposition party had lost its teeth after tasting federal power.
Sim, who is Minister of Entrepreneurial Development and Cooperatives, noted that the formation of the current unity government, following the 15th general election in November 2022, had been driven by the need to restore political stability after the Covid-19 pandemic, economic difficulties and three changes of government.
The government was formed following the decree of then Yang di-Pertuan Agong Al-Sultan Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah, and the broader desire among Malaysians for a stable administration, he added.
“Health crisis, economic crisis, political crisis. So it was the aspiration, not only of His Majesty, but the aspiration of the people of Malaysia, that you want a stable politics. You want a stable government,” he said.
According to Sim, DAP’s decision to enter the unity government was therefore never simply about securing Cabinet positions or political power.
“We are very clear. To come together, it is not for the interest of having a position or merely to be a minister,” added Sim, who is also DAP Penang chairman.
He noted how parties in the unity government had agreed on the constitutional values and principles that would serve as the basis for their cooperation, saying this showed it was not a “marriage of convenience”, but that there was a basis that bound all parties involved, friends and foes alike.
Sim said this distinction was important to remember for DAP members and supporters who may accept the need for political cooperation but who now feel the party has betrayed its core values.
“Members of DAP and our supporters want to see that, yes, we agreed for you to form this government, a unity government under the decree of His Majesty. But that doesn’t mean it is a blank cheque to say, you set aside our core values,” he said.
He said the question facing DAP was therefore not simply whether it should work with one party or another, but whether such cooperation remained consistent with the principles that underpin the party.
Sim also pushed back against the assumption that DAP delegates would vote tomorrow based on emotion.
“I am confident that delegates will make a wise choice, a wise decision, based on not only the interests of the party itself alone, but also really the interests of the country,” he said.
Sim added that the delegates are “rakyat Malaysia” and their decision tomorrow would reflect the aspirations and anxieties of Malaysian society.
“And on this part, I am very confident that they will make a decision that is in the interest of our country.” — August 15, 2026