Democratic Action Party

The Democratic Action Party (abbreviation: DAP; Malay: Parti Tindakan Demokratik‬; Chinese: 民主行动党; Tamil: ஜனநாயக செயல் கட்சி) is a centre-left social democratic political party in Malaysia. As one of four component parties of the Pakatan Harapan (PH) coalition, it formed the federal government after defeating Barisan Nasional (BN) in the 2018 Malaysian general election, ending the party's 53 year-long stay in the opposition. However, before the coalition finished its first term, defections from partnering parties caused it to lose power after 22 months, culminating in the 2020 Malaysian political crisis. At the 2022 Malaysian general election, the PH coalition which the DAP was part of was returned to power again, albeit without a majority, leading it to form a unity government with political rivals.

The DAP was founded in 1965 by Malaya–based members of the Singaporean People's Action Party (PAP), Chen Man Hin and Devan Nair, shortly after Singapore's expulsion from Malaysia. Singapore's expulsion was in part due to intense ideological differences between the federal government, led by the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO), which favoured the idea of Ketuanan Melayu and Malay racial nationalism for the country. In contrast, the PAP favoured a more egalitarian and civic nationalist Malaysian Malaysia, which the DAP would continue to espouse. Following the expulsion, the PAP was elected as the ruling government of a newly sovereign Singapore, and would continue to operate on a platform of civic nationalism.

The DAP draws much of its support from secular and liberal voters with a stable electorate from voters of cities, coastal regions, the middle class (comprising professionals), and the working class. The party's strongholds are primarily in the urban and semi-urban areas of Penang, Perak, Selangor, Negeri Sembilan, Johor, Malacca and the Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur. In the 2018 Malaysian general election, the party contested in 47 federal and 104 state constituencies under the banner of its ally the People's Justice Party, winning 42 and 102 seats respectively, except in Sarawak, where the party's state branch chose to contest under its own banner.