DAP and Umno need to remain enemies
So, it serves both DAP’s and Umno’s interest to remain enemies. It keeps their relevance alive. If DAP and Umno kisses and makes up, then both DAP and Umno would no longer be needed. And this is why DAP and Umno may not go to bed in Perak but will instead continue to play the race and religion card to remain relevant.
NO HOLDS BARRED
Raja Petra Kamarudin
The real problem surrounding the proposed DAP-Umno tie-up in Perak is that DAP and Umno need each other. But they need each other as enemies and on opposite sides of the political divide.
DAP exists because Umno is seen as a racist party and an enemy of the non-Malays. Umno exists because DAP is seen as a communist party and an enemy of the Malays, Islam, and the Raja-Raja Melayu.
Without DAP, Umno would no longer be relevant, and without Umno, DAP would also no longer be relevant. So, DAP and Umno both exist and remain relevant because of each other.
A DAP-Umno collaboration would spell the end for both DAP and Umno. Without an enemy of the Malays, Islam and the Raja-Raja Melayu, why do the Malays need Umno? And without an enemy of the non-Malays, why do the non-Malays need DAP?
The example I always use is there would not be a Nelson if there was no Napoleon. Napoleon was necessary for Nelson to exist. And DAP is necessary for Umno to exist as well, and vice versa.
So, can DAP and Umno form an alliance in Perak? Technically, yes. If DAP can go to bed with PAS, twice — once in 1999 and again in 2008 — then DAP can go to bed with anyone (as it also did with Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad in 2018).
Politically, however, DAP would be inviting death if it went to bed with Umno — because if Umno is no longer a threat to the non-Malays, then the non-Malays do not need a defender and protector anymore and DAP becomes irrelevant.
So, it serves both DAP’s and Umno’s interest to remain enemies. It keeps their relevance alive. If DAP and Umno kisses and makes up, then both DAP and Umno would no longer be needed. And this is why DAP and Umno may not go to bed in Perak but will instead continue to play the race and religion card to remain relevant.
