The long and short of understanding DAP’s behaviour in recent times (Final Part)

Umar Mukhtar

Things were going on well for LKS. The running dog was bringing goodies back dutifully. Hudud was in the back-burner or so it seemed. The Non-Malays in PKR was growing in influence and feeding DAP with inside information on the state of their Party.

PKR was no longer effectively a Malay-led multi-racial party it seemed and LKS dream of a potential winner by a Chinese-led coalition was threatening at Putrajaya’s door. A 52%  share of the popular vote in PRU13 was no mean feat and DAP seemed unbeatable anywhere it contested. Even though Anwar was bitterly disappointed and a sore loser, DAP theoretically can wait for a PRU14 victory. Victory was inevitable.

But Anwar knew that PR had maxed out in the Peninsular. It has to depend on Sabah and Sarawak either now or during PRU14. It was going to be a costly affair if his experience in setting up UMNO in Sabah is any guide. Money talked and Sabah was swarming with Anwar’s bag-carriers in every constituency.

He knew he could do it again but where’s the money going to come from? That’s when his advisers pointed out to Selangor which had accumulated billions in state funds. Thanks to stingy Khalid Ibrahim whose habit of not spending on the Rakyat had made the state’s bank account looking healthy. What was that all about? It was for his miser’s ego.

The idea mooted was to create projects in Selangor, via negotiated contracts and overpay the contractorsa and use the extra money in the contractors’ possession to either buy Sabah and Sarawak MPs or buy votes in PRU14 whichever comes first. But Khalid would have nothing of that. He was more obsessed with his job than his party’s dreams. It was decided that Khalid has to go. That was the main reason he was going to be removed. Period.

The right person to have custody of all that money to fuel the party’s expansion, it was decided, was Anwar himself. To make Anwar MB, the Kajang Move was initiated. But as fate would have it, Anwar was sentenced to jail by the Court of Appeals for the silly things he did. Hence, Anwar was not legally qualified to stand as candidate. His wife was chosen to replace him and the Chinese voters of Kajang duly elected her as Kajang ADUN.

In all these deliberations PAS was not consulted. Pissed that PKR was acting as if they own Selangor, they backed Khalid to remain as MB. Khalid refused to make way for Anwar’s wife and was sacked by PKR unceremoniously. Khalid, as a partyless Menteri Besar, found it heavy going and after consulting the Istana, he resigned.

PKR did not make any secret of wanting to nominate Anwar’s wife as the new MB and DAP fully supported it even though the lady had confessed to wanting only to be a puppet MB, meaning to her husband. But DAP knew he was going to jail, so a puppet-level MB fit into DAP’s plans for exerting its influence. But the Sultan, it was rumored, did not want to deal with a lady MB and asked for two nominations from the three PR parties.

PKR led by Anwar and DAP actually thought they can defy the Istana by submitting only Anwar’s wife’s name as their sole nominee. But there was an ambitious young man lurking to takeover the MB’s position which he had first stake a claim in 2008 and was promised by Anwar to be MB in 2013. Playing his cards right while appearing loyal to his party’s decisions, Azmin Ali position himself accordingly.

It was time for PAS to throw a spanner in the works without appearing so. For reasons best known to PAS, it chose to obey the Istana and it seemed it nominated two names, with Azmin as one of them. Azmin became MB and Anwar went to jail. The Federal Court confirmed his guilt and sentence. From the way his defence was structured, we knew he did not have much of a defence. But five years in prison for a 66-year old man may be a bit harsh.

DAP never forgave PAS because Azmin has his own mind and won’t be DAP’s puppet like Anwar’s wife, who can be manipulated. LKS’s dream of controlling PR was going to be in tatters with its running dog in prison and PAS giving LKS the finger. After chastising Hadi by not having anything to do with him, DAP settled down to await the next opportunity. Little did LKS expect PAS was choosing to advance their Hudud cause as was allowed by the coalition’s leadership. Maybe the timing was out of spite, maybe just coincidental.

When it happened, DAP played to its gallery and waited for Hadi to be ousted as President. It never happened. And with its friends in PAS ousted from every position, DAP was left high and dry. If LKS were to see DAP actualise into his dreams during his lifetime, something must be done now. Hudud and Hadi are just convenient excuses to disguise DAP’s leadership crushed dreams of leading PR.

So what’s going on now is partly damage control and partly testing the waters for a chance of another try. Just do the needful. Simply put, reject PAS as partner, test if Azmin would play ball like his former boss by expelling PAS from the state government. If he refuses, threaten him with a fresh elections, which PKR will be the biggest loser, hoping that will scare PKR and the old lady with the fan to install herself as puppet MB or any puppet for that matter.

But Azmin, even though PKR is not supporting PAS’s Hudud, will have nothing of that and is already talking to PAS and UMNO as an estoppel move. Meanwhile, he might even call DAP’s bluff and expel DAP instead, purportedly to save them from having to talk to PAS. So LKS had to quickly qualify DAP’s stand for the moment.

For as long as the Istana does not want Anwar’s wife as MB, and is the final decider if fresh elections should be held, and Anwar is in prison, DAP better go back to the drawing board. Like a cat on a hot tin roof, LKS is jumping around knowing that DAP voters’ allergy to Hudud will override his own dreams of going national in his life-time. Not that he does not mind Hudud but a seasoned old politician like LKS knows that the reality of Hudud is still far away. It will be further away if he achieves the priority of getting his way as king-maker.

If DAP tactically retreats and becomes a very formidable opposition, the Chinese towkays better resucitate MCA or Gerakan so that the Chinese will also have representation in the government. Lessons learned is the same as when BA broke-up – the Malays can only accept being a member of a coalition if they are the leaders. A Chinese-led coalition is a no, no. That’s the majority race talking.

Looks like dreams of replacing BN are still far away. DAP has no running dogs, PasMa as Malay partners also may not dance fully to DAP’s tune, and PKR is coming into its own or otherwise perish.

It is ironic that the truth is, for DAP to  be contributory to everybody’s well-being, it has to drop its chauvinistic attitude, be a loyal opposition or make the Malays trust its intentions and be an equal partner to rule Malaysia. Malays will remain first among the said equals, like it or not. Don’t condemn them outright because the more DAP does that the more far away LKS dreams will be. We are all Malaysians.