Former law minister Zaid Ibrahim has fired another salvo at DAP, claiming that its leadership's arrogance would cost it Malay support.
Zaid, who joined DAP in last February, said what is lacking in the Malay-Chinese relationship at the political level is the right balance of civility and respect.
“The problem with MCA was that they became too compliant and submissive in their relationship with Umno, and that’s why they lost the support of the Chinese.
“I am now equally convinced the arrogance of the DAP leadership will never secure them deep Malay support. Somewhere in between lies the right balance I was trying to find,” he added in a blog posting this morning.
Zaid also addressed the controversy surrounding his description of DAP as a “Chinese party” with regard to secretary-general Lim Guan Eng's announcement of ministerial positions.
Lim had stated that Johor DAP chief Liew Chin Tong and Perak DAP chief Nga Kor Ming would be appointed as cabinet ministers if the pair won their respective seats and if Pakatan Harapan formed the next government.
Commenting on this, Zaid tweeted that while the “Chinese party in Harapan” had made the announcements, the “Malay parties” were silent as they tended to be shy and reticent.
In his blog post today, the former Umno lawmaker said he received a lot of brickbats for making this observation about the difference in behavioural attitude between the Malays and Chinese,
“I received a lot of brickbats. Someone texted me and said, 'Why are you being a racist when you were never one before?'
“Another well-known former political secretary of (Harapan chairperson) Dr Mahathir Mohamad even accused me of being an opportunist, saying I joined DAP to secure a comfortable seat, and had retaliated when one was not made available. Both of them totally missed the point,” he added.
According to Zaid, calling DAP a Chinese party is not the same as accusing it of being a racist party.
“Sometimes, when we describe Gerakan as a Chinese party or Umno as a Malay party, we are making a largely accurate description of both.
“It's true Gerakan has some non-Chinese members and Umno has some Kadazans, but ethnically they are largely monolithic in character.
“Why then, is calling DAP a Chinese party offensive?” he asked. -Mkini
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