DEMOCRATIC Alliance Party Wing Leader and Member of Parliament for Small Malaita Mr Rick Hou has made a call for citizens to join his political party on the basis that everyone should be involved when it comes to running the country.

Mr Hou briefly spoke about the makeup of the party and of the core value they embody.

He said that the party is fairly a new political party of six members in the current house, all of whom are in the opposition group and includes Hon Jeremiah Manele, Hon Steve Abana, Hon Conelly Sandakabatu, Hon Dr Culwick Togamana, Hon Peter Tom and himself.

Mr Hou stated that they value loyalty and that it is a virtue they all have towards each other.

“We value loyalty as one of the core principles of DAP. As a party, members of DAP have been loyal to the party and the party principles”, he said.

He also mentioned that the party values personal and group integrity, believes in the principles of a parliament democracy, principles of good governance, equitable distribution of wealth and equal opportunities and also believe in a system that rewards personal hard work and performance based on merit and excellence.

Moreover, Mr Hou strongly spoke about change and stressed the need for change.

“We cannot expect change to happen, we need to make change”

“As a country we have come a long way and there is a need for change in the way we do things so that we enable progress to take place”

“It is the people you and I that are responsible for making that change to take place”

“Of course a big part of that is through your BALLOT. However DAP believes you can make a more direct contribution by being involved at the party level”, he said.

Mr Hou said that DAP believes that a strong political system can also lead to more political stability and certainty.

“DAP invites the public to join the party so that through our collective concerns and efforts we would be able to make the changes we all want to see happen”, he said.

He also made the point that political parties should not be regarded as a secretive organization.

“Political Parties should not and must not be seen as a secretive organization and only for a few.

That is why DAP is calling on the public to come and join the party. This is our country and we need to take an active role in ensuring it develops in the way we want it to develop”, he said.