‘DAP’s partisan politics will backfire’

People in Penang want to see the party in constructive engagement with its opponents, says Gerakan.

GEORGE TOWN: The DAP’s tendency to indulge in partisan politics will backfire in the long term, says a state Gerakan leader.

Penang Gerakan vice-chairman Wong Mun Hoe said the people in the state now would prefer to see the party engaged constructively with its opponents rather than to run them down endlessly.

Since 2008, DAP has been engaged in partisan politics, criticising its rivals at every turn and corner, he said.

“For the DAP, it is either you are with me or against me. This had been its adage for a very long time. Now that the party is in government, this sort of attitude is opened for all to see,” he said in an interview.

The public does not like what it is seeing, Wong added.

Hence, a growing list of deractors have emerged in Penang, amid accusations that Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng has become a cocky and arrogant person, he said.

“The critics are not necessarily from the Barisan Nasional. Everyone in Penang from the hawkers to the trishaw peddlers hold strong opinions [about the state government]. Can Lim accept criticism?”

For example, Wong said the DAP-led Penang government was now embroiled in an alleged disagreement with the PAS-led state government in Kedah over a deal to supply raw water from the Muda River.

Lim has denied the existence of such a deal but Kedah Menteri Besar Azizan Abdul Razak had reportedly told a recent State Legislative Assembly sitting that is neighbour (Penang) has agreed to purchase water from Kedah.

When Penang BN chairman Teng Chang Yeow spoke about the conflicting statements from both, the DAP turned around and asked him (Teng) to resign, Wong said.

“Almost every DAP statement is about asking its opponents to step down.”

When its rivals pointed out that DAP’s has own “skeletons in the closet,” the party leaders became paranoid and issued gag orders on their own members, Wong said.

‘Behave like a government’

He said DAP should be accommodating and be more statesman-like in dealing with issues of nation-building.

The party is now in the government, so it must behave like one, he said.

It should be focusing on governing and not on the past mistakes of the previous government, he added.

If DAP wants to point out the errors of its opponents, it must also be willing to admit its own mistakes.

“But because of partisan politics, some DAP leaders do not want to admit their mistakes. They just want to twist and turn. When they are no longer able to twist, they keep mum.”

He said voters nowadays want a constructive form of politics.

“The people want our politicians to argue over who has the better policies and who has the better results. We are living in a result-oriented society. We should focus on what the people want, not on what we, politicians, crave.”

DAP has become a party which likes to dictate things to the people in Penang and cannot stomach criticism, judging from the present conduct of some of its leaders, he said.

“Eventually, the voters would decide the destiny of every elected politician. We can talk all we want, but it is the people who would decide.”