Since its inception in 1966, DAP have had within its ranks many leaders and electoral candidates from all of the races in Malaysia, including the Malays.
For example, during the 1969 Malaysian General Election – the first election entered by DAP – saw the party fielding 10 Malay candidates, 9 of which are for the State Legislative Assembly (DUN) and one for Parliamentary seat.
2 of the candidates won their seats in the State Legislative Assembly.
In the years afterwards, a sizeable number of Malay DAP candidates have won both DUN and Parliamentary seats including figures such as Ibrahim Singgeh and Ahmad Nor.
A former Union leader, Ahmad Nor became the first Malay Member of Parliament for DAP after winning the seat of Bayan Baru in 1990.
During GE13 in 2013, DAP fielded 4 Malay candidates in 3 Parliamentary seats and one DUN seat which are:
– Zairil Khir Johari in Bukit Bendera
– Ariff Sabri Abdul Aziz in Raub
– Mahdzir Ibrahim in Tanjung Piai
– Tengku Zulpuri Shah Raja Puji in Mentakab (DUN)
Subsequently, DAP fielded Dyana Sofya Mohd Daud in the Teluk Intan By-Election in 2014.
For GE14 in 2018, the Malay DAP electoral candidates for DUN increased to 9, which are:
– Zairil Khir Johari (Tanjung Bungah).
– Syerleena Abdul Rashid (Seri Delima).
– Dr Abdul Aziz Bari (Tebing Tinggi).
– Jamaliah Jamaluddin (Bandar Utama).
– Edry Faizal (Dusun Tua).
– Norhizam Hassan Baktee (Pengkalan Batu) which has now left the party.
– Sheikh Omar Ali (Paloh).
– Young Syefura Othman atau Rara (Ketari).
– Abu Bakar Lebai Sudin (Pulau Manis).
For Parliamentary seats, Tengku Zulpuri contested in Raub for DAP.
All of the candidates won their respective seats except for Abu Bakar Lebai Sudin in Pulau Manis.
In fact, Zairil, Dr Abdul Aziz, Norhizam and Sheikh Omar were appointed as State Executive Committee (EXCO) for their respective State Governments.
Meanwhie, Tengku Zulpuri was appointed as the Deputy Minister of Water, Land and Natural Resources.
Except for Zairil who is with the Pakatan Harapan State Government in Penang, all of these charismatic leaders lost their positions in the government after the change in Federal Government through the infamous ‘Sheraton Move’ in February and March 2020.
