DAP’s cold shoulder over election forecasts led to my exit, says Kian Ming

DAP’s cold shoulder over election forecasts led to my exit, says Kian Ming


Yesterday
Lynelle Tham


Ex-Bangi MP says tensions began with his Johor election forecast and grew after his Negeri Sembilan prediction, with no DAP leader reaching out to him

Ex-Bangi MP Ong Kian Ming said he was slowly ‘marginalised’ in DAP after failing to retain his seat in the party’s 2022 CEC election.

PETALING JAYA: Former Bangi MP Ong Kian Ming says DAP’s unhappiness over his election predictions, coupled with the party’s failure to engage with him about them, contributed to his decision to quit.

Speaking on the latest episode of the Keluar Sekejap podcast, Ong said tensions between him and DAP began after he predicted that Pakatan Harapan (PH) would suffer a major defeat in the Johor state election.

He said the forecast for Johor was initially made during a private briefing session with journalists but became public after a certain influencer obtained a copy of his presentation slides.

“The prediction was not something I made to bring down PH or run down DAP,” he said, adding that DAP leaders at the time asked why he had made it.

Ong said he made a similar prediction about the Negeri Sembilan election, including that DAP secretary-general Loke Siew Fook could lose the Chennah state seat – an eventuality that came to pass as Loke lost to Barisan Nasional’s Siow Kong Choon by 688 votes.

“Not because he didn’t serve (his constituents) well, but because the political wind blowing was very strong,” he said, describing a strong anti-PH political current and an ummah unity narrative.

Ong said no DAP leader had reached out to question his Negeri Sembilan predictions or ask how his analysis could help the party prepare for future state or general elections.

“I think that’s also a signal to me that they’re uncomfortable with me, but at the same time, they also feel there’s no need to engage with me,” he said.

Ong resigned from DAP on Aug 31. He ruled out joining another party or contesting the 16th general election, while reaffirming his pledge to campaign for former health minister Khairy Jamaluddin if he is fielded as a candidate.


He joined DAP in 2012 and served as its assistant political education director. He also served as deputy international trade and industry minister under Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s PH government between 2018 and 2020.

Ong said that in the two weeks after he informed the party of his decision to leave, no one, including Loke, contacted him to try and persuade him to stay.

“So I also saw this as a signal that this was a good date (Aug 31) to announce DAP’s independence from me, and my independence from DAP,” he said.

Ong also said his marginalisation in DAP had been developing for years and did not happen overnight.

He said losing the party’s central executive committee election (CEC) in 2022 was a signal that professionals such as himself and former DAP leader Tony Pua had “outstayed our welcome” in the party.

Pua lost the Selangor chapter’s election and was not included in the state committee, before both he and Ong lost the CEC election.

Ong said he had already decided not to contest the 2022 general election before losing the CEC election.

“Because I made that decision, I also felt I could advise the then DAP secretary-general, Lim Guan Eng, not to take up the position of chairman in DAP. I think that was perhaps the beginning of the end of my career in DAP,” he said.

Ong said he had already identified Syahredzan Johan as someone who could eventually replace him as Bangi MP but continued to hold on to hope that he would play a role in DAP after the 2022 election, particularly on policy matters.

“But that was something that DAP and its leaders perhaps felt they were smarter or more knowledgeable about than I was,” he said.

“So I’m okay with that because I also have roles and responsibilities to play in other arenas.”

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