DAP ‘Do-or-Die’ Three Year Plan for 1986
The DAP Central Executive Committee, as well as the DAP Summit Meeting of National and State Leader, at Cameron Highlands from Step. 9-11, took the historic decision to embark on a ‘Do-or-Die’ Three Year Plan to fight the next general elections expected to be held in 1986.
In April 1982, the people of Malaysia missed a golden opportunity to force the Mahathir administration to conduct a painful reappraisal of its nation building policies by causing electoral setbacks for the Barisan Nasional in the general elections.
On the contrary, the landslide Barisan Nasional general elections victory made such reappraisals and read justments of nation building policies not only unnecessary, it was used as a justification for the launching of new policy trends which would change the picture of Malaysia altogether in the late 80s and the 1990s.
The four disturbing new policy trends in the aftermath of the post-April 1982 general elections landslide Barisan Nasional victory are:
(1) The process of Islamisation affecting non-Muslims which gravely undermine national unity;
(2) The truculent reaffirmation of the 1971 National Cultural Congress principles of ‘integration through assimilation’ which would be a divisive factor in Malaysia;
(3) The ever growing concentration of political power in the hands of the Prime Minister and the Executive at the expense of the Parliament Judiciary and the Press; and
(4) The extension of the New Economic Policy from 1990 to 2000.
The 1986 General Elections would be a critical date for Malaysia as well as for the DAP. For the people as a whole, if they do not take the opportunity in 1986 to make it clear in no uncertain terms that they are firmly opposed to the whole range of Barisan nation-building policies, and in particular the post-April 1982 trends then there would be no other opportunity, for a completely new national scenario would have arisen after 1986 with another repeat landslide Barisan Nasional victory.
For the DAP, which would be in our 20th year of political struggle in 1986, we must make the supreme effort to ensure that 1986 would be a year for Malaysians to rise up and use their political right to put a check and halt to the dangerous nation building policies and trends embarked on by the Barisan Nasional.
This is why, for the sake of the people of Malaysia and for the Party, we must make a commitment for a ‘Do-or-Die’ Battle in 1986, and for the next three years, carry out fundamental motivational and attitudinal changes among the leadership as well as the membership to enable the Party organisation and machinery to be overhauled to fight the 1986 ‘Do-or-Die’ Battle.
In August 1990, the Party launched a ‘Rebirth’ Movement in the DAP to carry out a ‘Cultural Revolution without Red Guards’ to prepare the challenges of the Eighties. The ‘Second Rebirth’ Movement of the DAP was a great failure, partly because it was not allowed to take off as the Party was wracked by Barisan Nasional conspirators and party traitors and partly because the national, state and branch leaders did not respond to the ‘Second Rebirth’ call.
The DAP’s Three Year Plan for a Do-or-Die Battle in 1986 cannot be allowed to fail like the ‘Rebirth Movement’ of 1980, for then we would be deciding to die than to live!
However, we must be conscious of the fact that the Three Year Plan for a Do-or-Die Battle in 1986 is a going to be even more difficult and challenging than the ‘Rebirth Movement’, for it encapsulates two programmes, firstly, to implement the Rebirth Movement which we failed in 1980, and secondly, to triumph in the 1986 Do-or-Die Battle.
I envisage that the first 18 month of the Three Year Plan must concentrate on carrying out a mental and attitudinal change among Party leader and members, to re-establish close cohesion and comradeship, commitment and discipline in the Party, while at the same time, tightening party organisation and machinery into a efficient political force. The second 18 months could then be concentrated on taking on our political foes.
The DAP’s Three Year Plan for a Do-or-Die Battle in 1986 can only triumph if all national, state and branch leader participate fully in a three-year commitment to the DAP objectives. For this purpose, it has been decided at Cameron Highlands to conduct State-level seminar on the Three Year Plan to make State leaders the vanguard of this movement in their respective states. A seminar specifically for CEC member to review their leadership responsibilities and roles would precede these State seminar, for the CEC leader would be expected to play very active roles in this Three Year Plan.
The dates for these Three Year Plan seminars are as follows:
15/16th October 1983: CEC Members at Bukit Fraser
29/30th October 1983: Perak
5/6th November 1983: Penang
12/13th November 1983: Federal Territory
19/20th November 1983:Negri Sembilan
26/27th November 1083: Selangor
3/4th December 1983: Pahang
10/11th December 1983: Johore
17/18th December 1983: Malacca
31/1st January 1984: Sarawak
To enable the Three-Year Plan to be launched satisfactorily, the Central Executive Committee has decided to appoint specific CEC leaders to the various States to be responsible for the overall co-ordination, guidance and direction of State activities on behalf of the CEC, namely:
Kedah: Fadzlan Yahya
Johore: Chian Heng Kai
Melacca: Hu Sepang
Negri Sembilan: Tan Seng Giaw
Selangor: Lau Dak Kee
Fed. Territory: Dr.Chen Man Hin
Pahang: Lee Lam Thye
Perak: Lim Kit Siang
Penang: P. Patto
Sarawak: Lim Kit Siang
Sabah: Liew Ah Kim
The appointment of CEC officials to each State are subject to reshuffle and change by the CEC. Unless circumstances warrant, the CEC would conduct its first review of this arrangement after a nine-month operation from October 1983-June 1984.
Discipline
Discipline in the party must be tightened up if the Party is to be able to face the crucial battle of 1986. For this purpose, the Central Executive Committee has decided with immediate effect to establish State Disciplinary Committees (with the exception of Sarawak where a separate Disciplinary Committee had already been established), comprising three persons, namely the State Chairman, State Secretary and State Treasurer. However, if one of these three State officials is a subject of disciplinary complaint or action, then he or she concerned would automatically lose the right to be a member of the State Disciplinary Committee for the specific case concerned, and the vacancy would be occupied by the State Organising Secretary.
The State Disciplinary Committee would act on behalf of the National Disciplinary Committee to issue show cause notices to any member in the State who had infringed party discipline to explain why Disciplinary action should not be taken against the member. If the member concerned fails to show cause within the stipulated time given, or gives cause which the state Disciplinary Committee is not satisfied, then the State Disciplinary Committee should forthwith sent up the papers concerned to the National Disciplinary Committee which would take the necessary disciplinary action without further reference back to the member concerned.
There is an urgent need for Party leaders and members to have a greater sense of discipline. As a result of a lack of sense of party discipline, we have instances where party officials and members who sell dinner tickets for party functions or the Rocket or party publications who do not turn over the monies to the party branch or State Committee concerned. There have even been instances where party members who had defaulted in turning over the sale of dinner tickets threatening to resign from the Party when pressed by the branch committee to settle their accounts. The Party does not need such members, who should be expelled from the Party even if they do not want to leave the party.
As a first step to tighten up discipline in the Party, the Party Central Executive Committee has decided that with immediate effect, all State Disciplinary Committees should look into the question of party officials and members in the branches and the State who owe outstanding sum of money for dinner tickets, sale of Rockets, Party publications, or other party activities, and to give the members involved a period to clear up the outstanding debts, failing which to serve them with show cause letters why disciplinary action should not be taken against them.
All party branches and members should take it upon themselves as a party responsibility to ensure the upgrading of discipline in the Party so that we can prepare effectively for the Three Year Plan.