Speech by DAP Organising Secretary, Mr. Lim Kit Siang, to members of the Penang Utara DAP Branch on Tuesday, November 5, 1968
The Central Executive Committee of the Democratic Action Party will meet this Sunday in Kuala Lumpur to further review party preparations for the general elections.
The Central Executive Committee has set up an elections bureau, which will study the constituencies the DAP should contest, and the nomination of candidates.
The DAP will not make the mistakes some opposition political parties committed in the past, in fielding a large number of candidates to lose their deposits.
A study of the 1964 General Elections Report, for instance, showed that the United Democratic Party lost deposits in 35 state seats, eight of which were in Penang, and in 14 Parliamentary seats. In other words, in deposit forfeitures alone, the United Democratic Party lost $15,750.
The DAP does not have so much money to throw about. We will only field candidates where we have a good chance of winning, or where we can lay a strong foundation for victory in 1974. we are unlikely to lay any foundation at all if even the deposit is forfeited.
We are confident that our State and Parliamentary candidates will do well in Penang, because we are the only party which not only opposes government corruption, inefficiency and maladministration, but stands for something positive and vital to Malaysians: the achievement of a Malaysian Malaysia, where all language, cultures, races and citizens are equal.
The DAP is a young party, representing the interest of the new generation of Malaysians. The DAP was formed not to fight merely the 1969 general elections, but 1974, 1979, and after.
The biggest problem in Malaysian politics today is not corruption, maladministration, government inefficiency, and incompetence, which all political parties are opposed, but racialism in the country which caused the disturbances in Penang and North Malaya last year, and which could cause national disintegration.
There are parties which advocate a Malay Malaysia, a Chinese Malaysia or an Indonesia Malaysia. The DAP is the only national political party which is fighting for a Malaysian Malaysia, where every citizen is equal, and where all languages and cultures are allowed to freely grow and develop.
We know that the people, including Penangites, know the priorities of the political struggle – as to what should be strived for as a priority target. This is why we look into the future in Penang and Malaysia with confidence and hope.
Audited on 2021-03-11