by AZREEN HANI / pic by HUSSEIN SHAHARUDDIN

DAP wants a definite date from the government on the tabling of law against party-hopping in Parliament or the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the government is cancelled.

Outgoing party secretary general Lim Guan Eng said “it is the end of the MoU” if the Anti-Party Hopping law is not tabled in the Parliament.

“If they extend but can’t find early approval or whatever, that is OK, as long as we have a definite date…we will discuss it when he (Prime Minister [PM] Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob) returns from Vietnam,” Bernama reported him as saying in a press conference at the 17th DAP National Congress 2022 in Shah Alam yesterday.

Earlier in his speech, the Bagan MP said the MoU is “finished and ended” if the law is not tabled and passed in the Parliament.

“There is some confusion about the present status, the latest Parliamentary Order Paper reveals a tabling of the First Reading of the Constitutional Amendment Bill tomorrow in Parliament. If the Anti-Hopping Law is not passed as promised in the MoU signed by the PM, then the MoU is finished and ended.”

As a member of the Pakatan Harapan (PH) presidential council, Lim also stressed that PH needs to do a better job to communicate its message if it is to regain the people’s support.

“To succeed, we must not blame others for the loss of popular support, but look at our own weaknesses as to why there is a lower voter turnout. We need to face up to our record when we were in the PH government,” he said.

“PH must show it is united and move as a team. A common logo in PH would help to demonstrate that unity of purpose. While DAP is tempted to use the ‘Rocket’ logo, DAP will stick to the coalition logo of PH to help us to win together.

“No single party has won the general election (GE), only coalition parties have succeeded in winning power since Merdeka. We need to share victories with our allies through a common logo so that we can win more seats,” he added.

PH has lost in three consecutive state elections — Sarawak, Melaka and the latest, Johor, to Barisan Nasional (BN).

Low voter turnout as well as the disagreement on logo usage have been cited as factors for the coalition’s dismal election results.

Lim also said that he will extend his fullest support to his successor as the party’s constitution limits the secretary-general post to only three terms. Lim has been holding the post since 2004.

Meanwhile, his father, Lim Kit Siang (picture), has announced his retirement from politics after 56 years.

“I take this opportunity to announce my political retirement and I will not contest for any position, including the party CEC today — you should delete No 39 from the CEC candidate list – or any parliamentary or state assembly seat,” Kit Siang said.

“I have been with the party for 56 years — two days ago was the DAP’s 56th anniversary — and have seen it develop from a small Opposition party which fought the first GE in 1969 into a major political party in the PH coalition which won the 14th GE in 2018 and formed the government in seven states,” he added.

Kit Siang also said that the recent Johor state GE is a salutary reminder that Malaysian Dream for a united, democratic, just world-class great Malaysia is a long-term political struggle, with many ups and downs, gains and losses, “but we must remain constant in our objectives and never compromise our principles and ideals”.

Kit Siang made his debut as a politician by becoming DAP National organising secretary from 1966 to 1969.

In the 14th GE, Kit Siang won against BN at Iskandar Puteri with a 44, 864 majority.