A Self-Serving Plea

By Yin

When Liew Chin Tong puts out an open letter asking for support and telling readers how important it is in the coming GE15,  you can bet that DAP is in trouble. The party knows from feedback on the ground that those who voted for them are disappointed and will most likely not vote them again. This is especially so with the non-Malay voters who have counted on DAP to push for changes.

Following that, Anthony Loke pleaded with Anwar Ibrahim to let Mahathir Mohamad be PM9 and Lim Kit Siang opined that the best chance of Anwar being PM would be for Mahathir to be PM9 first.

The rationale is that otherwise Perikatan Nasional (PN) will win and (although left unsaid) Najib Abdul Razak and the other alleged kleptocrats will go scot free. That they will go free if PN wins is not in doubt – already some have got away.

This “lesser of two evils” tactic is the same one Pakatan Harapan (PH) employed in GE14.  This time it  will not wash.

Let’s go over Anthony Loke’s case for having Mahathir as PH candidate should it win GE15.

1. It’s only for 6 months.

What does Mahathir intend to do in the six months?

What is the programme? Does he intend to put through changes promised in GE14 but not carried out? Can he do it in 6 months when he couldn’t or did not want to in 21 months?

More likely than not Mahathir will use the time to consolidate his position, promote his son and undermine PKR as he did.No one can blame PKR for not trusting Mahathir.

2. Only Mahathir can take PH over the line.

Mahathir can win over the rural Malays. Is that so?  Did not UMNO and PAS win more seats in GE14?

3. What is PH’s programme when in power?

In the last government PPBM had more ministers than the other parties in relation to the number of MPs it has. And this goes for State Governments too.

Will DAP and Amanah allow this again?

More relevant is, what is Mahathir’s vision.  Will he promote Bangsa Malaysia or further entrench Ketuanan Melayu?

Show us the programme you have for the country.

Don’t ask for a blank cheque from us when the cheque you issued in GE14 bounced.

4. Mahathir admitted that he had no intention of carrying out the manifesto put out by PH in GE14.

What is different this time? Can we trust Mahathir?

5. To most Malaysians the most important change promised in GE14 was Bangsa Malaysia

We had dreams of a new dawn of one country, one people. But how can we work towards this when the person chosen as PM comes from a Malays-only party with a Malay Agenda and the party which stood for a Malaysian Malaysia (DA) has abandoned the idea?

The black & white agreement with Mahathir

Loke said that there will be a black and white agreement with Mahathir that he will step down in six months.  In the first place such an agreement is probably unenforceable in a court of law. The agreement is not worth the paper it is written on.

Secondly DAP’s threat to trigger another election if Mahathir renege is an empty one.

Mahathir will put together a Malay Nationalist Unity Coalition to fight what he will call a threat (by the Non-Malays) to Malay interests.  So there will be no election.

Since Anthony Loke and Liew Chin Tong made their plea much has changed. DAP and Amanah has sided with Mahathir over Anwar.

They are so power-hungry that they will ditch their long time ally PKR because they think Mahathir is the better bet.

Now the latest kopitiam talk is that Lim Guan Eng is trying to make up with Anwar and DAP is beginning to distance itself from Mahathir.

That’s what DAP has become – a party of opportunists devoid of principles.

There are politicians who argue that realpolitik dictates what one can do. These are the opportunists who have an answer for every U turn they make. They will rationalise why they sold out and convince you that it is for you that they have done it and not their self-serving interests.

GE15 will come sooner rather than later.

Will voters repeat their folly of GE14?

Be sure if Mahathir leads PH there will be no Bangsa Malaysia. None of the structural changes we need in government will be carried out.

We cannot vote for a party just to punish the kleptocrats; important as that may be. We need to know what else there is. What is the vision the party has for our country?

A progressive, tolerant multi-racial Malaysia or a Malaysia only for one race. Mahathir will give you the latter.

The judges are still out with Anwar on this – but at least his party is a multi-racial party. That counts for something.

To be clear this is not an endorsement of Anwar Ibrahim; we have yet to hear his vision for the country. His track record on multi-racialism has not been too convincing to be sure.

At the same time I think having Mahthir as PM again will be a grave mistake.

The call to support Mahathir is an unprincipled one and is done only to serve the  interests of those opportunistic politicians.

Karpal Singh is probably turning in his grave with what is happening to his party. He is sorely missed when DAP needs someone who is courageous and will not compromise his principles.

Where are the principled DAP leaders of old – P. Patto, Fan Yew Teng and others? Turning in their graves with the Tiger of Jelutong .

Blinded by power, DAP has lost its way.

(The views expressed are those of the contributor and do not necessarily reflect the views of Rebuilding Malaysia.)