Managing an expanding Rocket

nThe growth in membership and branches of the Democratic Action Party (DAP) since the breakthru 12th general election in 2008 creates a new challenge to the party especially for its leaders in Pakatan Rakyat ruled states particularly in Selangor and Penang.

For a party whose membership some 30 years ago was just more than two thousand, the current monumental growth in membership is surely a situation which many veteran  DAP leaders can never imagined. Previously with small membership it is easier to manage the party in terms of secretariat affairs and branches coordination. Fast forward to year 2010 when the membership and branches had rocketed to such numbers which is unseen in DAP's history. The party HQ  and some state secretariats workload must have increased tremendously in processing and managing the new membership and branches applications. While DAP works towards a progressive and people friendly policy development in the state and federal governments, the party is now faced with the challenge to further enhanced its office management and coordination at all levels of party hierarchy.

In Selangor itself, the branches had mutiplied from 40 branches before the March 2008 general election to the 145 branches which are sending delegates to the DAP Selangor State Convention this weekend. On top of that, at least 50 new branches are still awaiting registration by the Registrar of Societies. Assuming averagely there are at least 60 members in each branch, there are now at least 12,000 members just in Selangor. Just like any other organisations, managing an expanded membership list requires more manpower,  financial resources, better office management system and organisational skills.

Lau Weng San, Selangor DAP Secretary and Kg Tunku ADUN shoulders huge challenge 

in preparing for the 1k plus delegates attending the Selangor state convention.

With the setting up of new branches, more delegates will also be attending state conventions as each branch are entitled to send seven delegates. As such, this means larger venues are required to accommodate the enlarged delegates attending state conventions. Larger venues and more delegates translated to higher cost to organise the conventions. Sooner or later DAP will need to review its constitution in relation to the number of delegates entitlement for each branches to attend the state and national conventions as overwhelming delegates will be too heavy a task for the state secretary and a costly affair too.

For instance, what will be the scenario if in the future there are 500 branches in Selangor? That will be translated to 3,500 voting delegates! If each member took 10 seconds to select 15 out of 50 candidates and finally drop it into the ballot box, that will consumed slightly more than nine hours just to cast the votes! For the Selangor state convention this weekend, will 2.5 hours be enough for the whole election process to be over? That's assuming every delegates already decided and know who and where to mark the 15 candidates of their choice from the list of 50 names in multiple pages. If Lau Weng San is still the state secretary by then he will really need more assistants and full time secretariat members to manage the secretariat and organised the state conventions.

Assumed in the near future DAP as part of Pakatan Rakyat already takes over the Federal government  and its membership surged to 2,000 branches with at least 60 members in every branch. During the DAP triennial congress which elects 20 national leaders, every branch will be entitled to send 4 delegates and the total delegates will be 8,000! DAP by then will need to convene its congress at the Putra Stadium in Bukit Jalil and a whole day for all to cast the votes! If that's the case, PKR might need to book all the available stadiums in the country just for their divisions direct election!

On another note, while it is indeed a good thing for DAP to be able to attract more people to sign up as members, it need to ensure these new members understands and accept the party's ideology and direction for the nation. It will be detrimental not only to the party but also the prospect of managing the country with a greater hope if newly enlisted members brings in certain political culture and approaches which the rakyat has been detesting all these years. It will be such a pity if any branches, new or old, existed all in name but only for the purpose of sending delegates to cast votes during state or national elections. For a political party to be relevant to the man in the street, local branch leaders are the frontline agents of change and need to engage the grassroots and the constituents continuously. This can be achieved by having community programs with the residents and to increase the citizens political awareness and participation especially in the democratic electoral process.

For all the candidates who offered themselves for the thousand plus delegates to elect them as state committee members, they need to think deeper than just a political position and government appointments but how to manage a growing party in terms of memberships, branches and also possibly larger financial resources. As state government leaders, there are many salaried civil servants providing the backbone and administrative support. But for a political party these resources are limited and may be too costly to even think about it.

For a party which is consolidating its power based in the state and strengthening its machinery, it will need more than mere slogans and fiery speeches but the capability to provide examplary leadership and good organisational and administrative skills for the party.  Not just the know how to lead but to manage the party well too. - Loka

Note: The blogger had organised many conventions and annual general meetings for NGOs, locally and internationally for the past 20 years and are aware of the needs and challenges faced to ensure the respective events proceed smoothly, especially during election year. Anyway, the blogger might have attended the opening ceremonies but had never organised any conventions for any political parties so far.