DAP secretary-general Loke Siew Fook said the public must understand that politics was not simply about frontline politicians, as every member within a party had a different role to play.

“Lim Kit Siang and Ong Kian Ming are not leaving DAP. Just because they will not contest in GE15 does not mean they will not contribute to the party.

“I will rope in their expertise to help us in the elections and also for policy formulation,” he said at a joint press conference with Ong here today.

During the DAP national congress in March, Lim announced that he was quitting politics for good and withdrawing from the race for a seat in the central executive committee (CEC).

Lim had been in the CEC since 1966 when he began as a national organising secretary, and subsequently went on to hold the powerful secretary-general’s post for 30 years from 1969.

On Monday, Ong, a two-term MP, announced that he was taking a break from politics to “regroup and recharge”.

Ong, who was elected the MP for Bangi in May 2018 and was previously MP for Serdang from 2013 to 2018, said he would not offer himself as a candidate for GE15.

Commenting further, Loke said the common perception that politics was simply about being an MP or assemblyman has to change.

He stressed that the public’s confidence in DAP did not stem from any one individual or leader but the party as a whole.