“Is that what we want as a country or party right now? The answer is no, and I’m confident our support base feels the same way.”
- DAP secretary-general Anthony Loke
You got to give it to the DAP. They commit to a role. Whether it is PAS, Bersatu, and now Umno/PKR, they commit to their role as enablers and sycophants to the Malay uber alles crowd.
Whatever filth they are asked to eat, they guzzle it up and put on a happy face, telling everyone that this is good for the bigger picture of the country, all the while, what they have been doing is being part of a system which slowly but surely makes it easier for the theocratic forces in this county to take over.
Of course, when these political love affairs which we are told are for the greater good of the country end, the DAP will trash talk their former Malay uber alles partners claiming that the DAP gave them everything but still this wasn’t enough, or that behind the scenes on important issues, they were played out by the ketuanan (supremacists) types.
This, of course, results in former partners hurling accusations at each other, while the respective bases dig in and politics remain the same.
Even Loke got his digs in at the old maverick saying - “At that time, we hoped that (former prime minister Dr) Mahathir (Mohamad), after reaching a very advanced age, could have changed, and not just join forces to topple (then PM) Najib Abdul Razak, but to bring change.”
At each turn, DAP partisans argued that the various permutations of these Malay uber alles parties were different - but the reality is, all that these Malay uber alles parties desired was dominance over the Malay polity, as measured by electoral power, and used DAP to reverse their political fortunes.
Loke says the DAP speaks up through the proper channels. Mind you, “proper channels” in Malaysian parlance are channels which are private, and nobody can hold you accountable for what you said or claim to have said.
Take this powder keg Dr Muhamad Akmal Saleh issue for instance.
Loke claims to have spoken to Umno big cheese Ahmad Zahid Hamidi and Malacca grand poobah Ab Rauf Yusoh and “expressed DAP’s position on the matter”.
Two questions - what is DAP’s position on this matter because the central command really has not put out any statements, while factotums of the DAP have been speaking up but have been told to put a sock in it by the dear leader’s party. And secondly, why are you speaking to Umno?
Now some would argue that DAP is speaking to Umno because Akmal is their problem child. However, that is nonsense.
The prime minister is supposed to be the most powerful or influential figure in this unity government, so why didn’t the DAP, who has the bigger voting bloc, just bypass Umno and tell the prime minister to control his rabid handmaidens to power?
Loke said, “I don’t know how MCA conducted themselves while in government but for us (DAP), there are matters that we will raise directly with the prime minister” which means shouldn’t the DAP be raising this issue with the prime minister himself?
But then again, seeing as how the prime minister was silent when the cars of a DAP political operative were firebombed, perhaps running to the prime minister about a Chinese businessperson being targeted for a mistake his company made and which he has profusely apologised for is not such a great idea.
Loke reminisces of how as a young person he was firmly in the DAP camp and his rivalry with an MCA kid has some sort of totemic symbolism of the fight the party was waging for the soul of the Chinese community at the time.
The struggle between the towkay class and the average Joe. What he forgot to mention is that everyone from the working, middle, and plutocrat classes was voting for the MCA, and demonising the party now is merely indicative of the behaviour of DAP supporters who were steeped in the toxicity of identity politics that the DAP seems to encourage.
The reality is that DAP has bent over backwards to support pro-Islamic and pro-Malay policies, not to mention pro-Malay political operatives, all while being subject to the anti-Islam and anti-Malay propaganda that they should have tackled decades ago, instead of playing the victim card while engaging in the same behaviour they accuse the MCA of.
This is why, no matter what the DAP does, no matter how much they bend over for the Malay political establishment, it will never be enough. This is why we have these tensions within the DAP.
The identity politics in the DAP, like most forms of such politics, is reactionary. And do not for one minute think that the Malay uber alles establishment does not know this.
Akmal is the smug poster child for the Malay uber alles crowd. While political operatives from Umno have claimed they have told him to stop these provocations, while the Agong has told everyone to cease and desist and while he is under a sedition investigation, he understands that he has the power to give the middle finger to everyone.
Political operatives like him understand that it really does not matter what they do because the DAP support base will not punish the DAP, unlike the Malay majority polity who have demonstrated their willingness to shift their support to whatever reactionary Malay/Muslim party they think best serves their interests.
DAP supporters’ deflection game
The DAP, through its minions online, always harass and attempt to deflect from their failings. DAP asks if not unity government, who else? Would you rather see Perikatan Nasional take over?
Ok, hold it right there, you disingenuous cretins. The DAP has worked with every race-based party that has come into creation, so do not for one minute think this card plays with rational people.
Unfortunately, as Loke demonstrated with his “I don’t like the MCA” card, partisan politics is not rational. Rational people ask themselves why continuing supporting a party which is slowly eroding the secular and egalitarian foundations of this country.
I mean PN did rule the country and when the general election came, they had ruled so badly, that the vote albeit in a small way swung to Harapan and Umno was decimated. This is what should have been built on. However, it wasn’t and a rational person has to wonder why.
DAP supporters always ask what you expect the party to do. This is the problem right here.
You mean you do not know? - Mkini
S THAYAPARAN is Commander (Rtd) of the Royal Malaysian Navy. Fīat jūstitia ruat cælum - “Let justice be done though the heavens fall.”
The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of MMKtT.
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