SEGAMAT: DAP secretary-general Anthony Loke Siew Fook today once again stated the party’s stance in supporting the implementation of simultaneous elections at the federal and state levels, as a measure to ensure efficiency and cost savings in election management.

He said that although the decision to dissolve Parliament is the absolute power of the Prime Minister, DAP, as one of the dominant parties in the government, will provide views on coordinating the dissolution, if simultaneous elections are to be held.

“Whether we will hold simultaneous elections, I don’t know…because when to dissolve Parliament is the Prime Minister’s power, but as the dominant party, of course we support the idea of ​​holding simultaneous elections,” he said when speaking at the Johor DAP 2025 State Annual Convention at the Siang Hai Recreation Centre here today.

Loke said several states would be going through term expiration periods including Melaka in Dec 2026, Sarawak in Feb 2027 and Johor in April 2027, thus creating technical space for coordination of dissolution with Parliament if it was set earlier.

“If simultaneous elections are to be held, then Parliament needs to be dissolved early to pave the way for simultaneous elections,” he said.

Loke said the coordination had a positive impact in terms of practicality and cost, especially involving logistics such as in Sarawak which required greater spending to hold separate elections.

“In terms of practicality, it can save costs…and we hope this can be standardized and unified so that the country’s costs can be reduced,” he said.

Commenting on political cooperation in the run-up to the upcoming elections, he said discussions on the cooperation model had not been finalised, but DAP would adjust its strategy through a consistent spirit of struggle.

“Whatever the arrangement, whatever the cooperation model, we will fight to the end, we don’t need to worry,” he said.

He said Johor DAP had basic strengths that needed to be defended, including the five Parliamentary seats and 10 State Assembly seats that the party won in the last election.

Loke said negotiations with Pakatan Harapan and Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim would continue, to ensure the most effective formula was formulated to guarantee national stability, strengthen governance and benefit the people.

“Most importantly, our country continues to be stable, our state continues to progress and there are ways for us to ensure that we can implement the best decisions for the people,” he said.

Meanwhile, Johor DAP Chairman Teo Nie Ching in his speech announced that National DAP Publicity Assistant Secretary and Johor DAP Deputy Chairman Wong Shu Qi had been appointed as the Election Director for GE16 and the Johor State Election.

Teo said the Kluang MP would be assisted by Johor DAP Secretary Andrew Chen Kah Eng, Johor DAP Vice Chairman Sheikh Umar Bagharib Ali and DAP Committee Member Liow Cai Tung.

“I believe that under the leadership of Wong Shu Qi, these people will formulate strategies and how we will prepare to face the next election,” he said.

-Agency