By Ram Anand | Updated on Aug 16, 2026 at 10:28 AM
Malaysia’s Democratic Action Party voted on Sunday to remain in Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s cabinet, giving him a reprieve after a string of electoral setbacks and turmoil within his own party.
Of the 2,099 delegates who cast ballots at the party’s conference in Putrajaya, 1,857 supported staying in the administration, according to results announced at a briefing. The DAP is the biggest component party in Anwar’s ruling coalition.
“Some critical views were presented,” Anthony Loke, the DAP’s secretary-general, said in the briefing. “They wanted the party to be more assertive. With the mandate given by delegates, we will continue to carry out our role within the government.”
The outcome spares Anwar another cabinet reshuffle at a time when he is trying to revive support by promising to speed up the pace of reforms and strengthen an anti-corruption drive. His term ends by February 2028 and he has indicated that he is in no rush to call a snap election after his Pakatan Harapan alliance fared poorly during local elections in Sabah, Johor and Negeri Sembilan.
Despite differences among the parties in government, the DAP doesn’t want to create further instability and will continue pressing for cost-of-living issues to be addressed in the cabinet, Loke added.
Read More: Malaysia’s Anwar Vows Faster Reforms After Electoral Defeats
The DAP’s move also reduces pressure on Anwar to call an early election, particularly from Barisan Nasional, which is his partner in the federal government but a rival in state polls. Barisan and its allies won supermajorities in Johor and Negeri Sembilan, giving it an incentive to seek an earlier national vote.
But Barisan holds only 30 seats in parliament and Anwar would still have a simple majority without its support, limiting its ability to use the threat of withdrawing support to force an early election.
For the DAP, the vote followed mounting concern over its own performance at the ballot box. The party, which draws much of its support from ethnic Chinese voters, suffered setbacks in all three recent state contests, raising questions about whether Pakatan is losing ground among a traditionally loyal voter base.
The DAP has also struggled to make inroads among Malay Muslims, who make up about two-thirds of Malaysia’s population, with rivals frequently portraying it as a threat to their interests. Loke, who is the country’s transport minister, lost his state assembly seat in Negeri Sembilan on Aug. 1.
Anwar’s difficulties extend to his own People’s Justice Party, or PKR. Three lawmakers — including former cabinet minister and ex-PKR deputy president Rafizi Ramli — have resigned their seats to form a new party called Bersama this year. Anwar’s daughter Nurul Izzah Anwar, who defeated Rafizi in a controversial contest for the deputy presidency last year, went on sabbatical from the leadership earlier this month.
The political slide comes despite a resilient Malaysian economy, underscoring Anwar’s struggle to turn stronger headline numbers into votes. Households remain concerned about the cost of living, while some longtime supporters have grown frustrated with what they see as slow progress on promised reforms.