From Terence Netto
Its wipeout in the Sabah polls has made it imperative for DAP to push for a course correction by the Madani government of which it has been an integral, if passive, part.
Having lost all eight seats it contested in the Sabah polls – an unprecedented failure – DAP cannot avoid drawing an adverse conclusion.
This is that urban Chinese voters, usually the mainstay of its support, no longer view the party as a political force they can rely on to defend their interests.
Three years ago, when DAP backed Anwar Ibrahim to the hilt as its choice for prime minister of the unity government, it virtually gave him a blank cheque.
That action reflected the trust and confidence that the party – the largest component of the Madani government in terms of parliamentary seats (40) – had in Anwar to bring about the political and economic reforms that Pakatan Harapan (PH) had espoused for nearly three decades prior to its assumption of federal power in late November 2022.
The party was virtually telling him it knew the constraints within which he had to manoeuvre as head honcho of the unity government, which included DAP’s adversary, Umno.
Nevertheless, DAP felt assured that Anwar would know what was to be done and when it was to be done.
It was a matter of trust.
Signs that this trust was beginning to fray were discernible a year ago at a large gathering of DAP supporters in Ipoh, at the launch of the Mandarin edition of journalist-author Kee Thuan Chye’s two-volume biography of Lim Kit Siang.
Anwar was guest of honour at the function.
All eyes were on the prime minister and what he was going to say in the face of growing unease among many at the slow pace of reforms since attaining his lifetime ambition to be prime minister.
The final speaker on the occasion, Anwar referred to the French Revolution, on how the seminal event was a lesson that radical reform was best taken in small doses lest reactionary forces arise to wipe out long-sought gains.
Anwar did not appear very convincing, and his comportment suggested he was irked by remarks from DAP stalwart Lim Guan Eng earlier in the evening that purported to tell Anwar to step on the gas.
In fact, Shamsul Iskandar Akin, then political secretary to the prime minister who was sitting at the press table, muttered his disapproval of Guan Eng’s seeming temerity.
Suffice to say, just two years after Anwar assumed the reins of power, the tardy pace of reforms by his administration was already taxing the patience of PH supporters.
Now, three years after, with the dismal results for PH components in the Sabah polls, the message from voters cannot be misread.
It’s get on with the reform programme or pay the forfeit at GE16, which must be held by February 2028.
PH components Amanah and PKR cannot be expected to prod Anwar to get going on reform; one is too feeble to exert pressure and the other has become a family concern.
It’s up to DAP to take the bit between the teeth and tell Anwar it’s now or never.
Voters will not give Madani another chance.
Terence Netto is a senior journalist and an FMT reader.
The views expressed are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect those of FMT.