In the 1999 general election, DAP teamed up with Parti Islam SaMalaya (PAS), Parti Keadilan Nasional (Keadilan) and Parti Rakyat Malaysia (PRM) to form the Barisan Alternative (BA).
DAP remains unswerving in its commitment that Malaysia shall remain as a democratic, secular and multi-religious nation. DAP’s cooperation with the other three opposition parties was based on the BA common manifesto, “Towards A Just Malaysia” in order to break the BN’s political hegemony and smash the chains of repression fettering the rights and freedom of Malaysians and undermining justice, freedom, democracy and good governance.
Unfortunately, however, subsequent events that transpired, especially the insistence of PAS in forming an Islamic State – an idea deemed incompatible with the pluralistic nature of a Malaysian nation cherished by DAP – shattered the whole basis of the cooperation. Once the common objectives of the BA coalition had been tainted by one component party’s insistence to alter the secular nature of this country, it was no longer tenable for DAP to continue in the BA.
DAP pulled out from the coalition in 2001.