KUCHING: The Sarawak Democratic Action Party (DAP) will not be impacted by the resignation of its leader in Sri Aman as there are many other Bumiputera leaders in the party.
Political analyst Dr Lee Kuok Tiung said that this was not a priority or an urgent matter for the party.
On Thursday (Jan 13), DAP Sri Aman chairman Leon Jimat Donald quit after being in the party for the past 13 years.
Following that, Special Officer to DAP Sarawak chairman Chong Chieng Jen, Abdul Aziz Isa announced that he would take a long break from politics.
“First, DAP Bumiputera leaders are more than those two individuals. There are many other Bumiputera leaders in the party.
“Secondly, it is also reasonable to take this opportunity for a ‘sabbatical period’ to refresh themselves and re-evaluate whether the party has deviated from the original struggle as well as what steps or actions need to be taken,” added the Univeristi Malaysia Sabah (UMS) senior lecturer.
He noted that DAP Sarawak is a Chinese party although it claimed to be a multi-ethnic party as could be seen in their extent to penetrate Bumiputera areas.
“I believe what DAP most worried now is the preparations to face GE15 (15th general election) which is expected to take place in the first half of this year and their focus will continue to be on the Chinese-majority urban seats.
When asked by New Sarawak Tribune recently for reasons to quit the party, Lee said that there were a lot of possible reasons why both were taking a break from politics.
“There could be many reasons — wanting a break, possibly a rift with the party leadership as a sign of protesting something or looking for a scapegoat to blame for DAP’s poor performance in the recent election.
“Either way, DAP has never had Bumiputera supporters, and has not succeeded in penetrating the hearts of Sarawak Bumiputera. Their popularity has been on urban Chinese voters over the years,” added Lee.
He also mentioned that the party could persuade them to continue fighting for the party’s struggle and making them feel like an asset for DAP.
“Persuade them to come back if they feel they are an asset to the party, but it will turn to be good news if those two have become a liability to DAP Sarawak.
“However, these are all common norms in politics,” Lee concluded.
