Is the DAP too mesmerized by power to see the writing on the wall?
It is one of the reasons why UMNO leaders do not rein in the likes of Akmal Saleh when he goes on the offensive against the DAP or seeks to show up how impotent the DAP is; they know that that is always a winning strategy.
Dennis Ignatius
[1] Johor DAP chief Liew Chin Tong is apparently a happy man. He sees the UMNO victory in the recent Mahkota by-election – which saw close cooperation between UMNO and DAP – as a template for the next general election.[1] Such is the optimism within the DAP these days that even retired DAP supremo Lim Kit Siang has been musing about the possibility of Anwar ending up as one of the longest serving prime ministers of Malaysia[2]. Left unsaid, of course, is that the DAP will be right there beside Anwar (and Zahid Hamidi) for many more years to come.
[2] Full credit to Zahid for turning an electoral disaster into a winning hand. In GE 15 his party was trashed at the polls; many thought it was the end of the road for UMNO. Not only did Zahid exploit the fractured political scene post-elections to emerge a major player in the unity government, but he also managed to consign the DAP (the second largest party in parliament) to junior status within the government. Overnight, losers became winners and winners became losers.
[3] You have to be pretty thick-skinned to be a DAP leader these days. After all, UMNO has made no secret of the fact that it dislikes the DAP and trusts them even less. In the Nenggiri by-election, DAP leaders were told to stay away as their presence wouldn’t go down well with voters in the predominantly Malay constituency.[3] In Mahkota, as soon as UMNO won, UMNO leaders began downplaying the DAP’s contribution to their victory.[4]For UMNO, it is patently clear that the present arrangement is nothing more than a temporary marriage of convenience with a much-despised rival.
