What S The Point Of Dap Remaining In Madani

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“We should not bow to fate, and have the right to equality. We should not kneel and beg. We should be brave enough to stand and ask for it.”
- Lim Guan Eng (2012)
Since the so-called Sabah slap, DAP operatives have been going on a performative spree. DAP MPs have been busy demonstrating that they are taking the government to task, especially when it comes to issues affecting non-bumiputera.
Not only is it performative, but it is also rather comical.
ADSI think the apogee of the DAP kowtowing to Madani was the complete silence by the DAP youth and sports minister when the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM)/International Federation of Association Football (Fifa) scandal was playing out, and then the fait accompli “clutch my pearls” statements from the minister when it was obvious that the dust was not settling.
At this point, there is a litany of dismal peaks that rational Malaysians can point to where the DAP has not served the rakyat when it comes to accountability, the promotion of democratic values, and, of course, lessening the impact of theocratic imperatives in mainstream Malaysian politics.
The suspended sevenDAP politicians, apparatchiks, and online trolls smugly ask if not the DAP, who can the “Nons” vote for? It is either the DAP or a theocratic state.
The online harassment of third-party candidates, as well as the demeaning of so-called mosquito parties and outliers speaking against the double talk of the DAP, is a testament that the Nons have shot themselves in the foot when it comes to viable alternatives to legacy parties.
None of these trolls will ever acknowledge that the DAP, by kowtowing to Madani, is speeding up the Islamic state project.
None of these cretins will ever acknowledge that while the average rakyat who supports the DAP does not have the option of leaving this country, many mandarins and power brokers in the DAP shape party politics and have the means to leave when the theocratic state comes.
The most damning thing about the video clip of Karpal Singh that was unearthed recently was that it demonstrated how the party leadership abandoned him when he was fighting the right fight.
Some folks think that was in response to the recent Sabah slap and how DAP is supposed to be standing up to Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, but I think it is a reminder that the DAP’s political class and culture have a history of not supporting righteous causes and indulging in political expediency while abandoning right-minded comrades.
This is what destroys a party, because there are always voices in political parties who speak up on foundational principles, but they are sidelined by those who have tasted the perks and privileges that come with power.
DAP candidates in the recent Sabah electionDAP adviser Lim Guan Eng babbles on about how DAP was rejected in Sabah because of taxes, which displays how out of touch the leadership of the DAP is with the groundswell of anti-establishment sentiment there is in this country.
The problem is not that some feel that Anwar has not done enough, but rather that he has done too much to appease a right-wing, theocratic state-in-waiting.
ADSAnd please do not think of this as solely a non-Malay issue. The fact is, democratic principles and secular values would benefit a majority of Malays if only the DAP had the cojones to stay the course.
People are tired of this Madani nonsense, and they will turn to parties they think will make their lives better. For the majority community, this comes with an Islamic imperative, an imperative which should have been controlled under Madani with the aid of the DAP, but which wasn’t.
Corporate interest over community voice
I guess the point of DAP remaining in Madani is that the party gets a property czar, for example. What the DAP should be advocating for and has done so in the past is local council elections.
Instead of a local council election, which acts as a check-and-balance to a whole range of issues, and where communities determine what the places they live in need, we get the Urban Renewal Act (URA), which concentrates power in the hands of government and where backchanneling, backroom deals, and corporate malfeasance get a fig leaf of legality.
Do you know why Malay uber alles politicians play the race card when it comes to local council elections?
They want to destroy democratic opportunities where the Malays, especially if they are a minority in certain areas, understand that their welfare is safeguarded by a non-Malay majority.
Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim and Housing Minister Nga Kor Ming with photos of property that the Urban Renewal Act aims to refurbish.Because once this happens, all bets are off. This is why politics is always local.
So, instead of laying the foundation for more democratic engagement, which would benefit the political party but more importantly the rakyat, what we get is a property czar working in concert with corporate interests and the political class, which adversely affects the average Malay rakyat, who then succumbs to the race and religious dialectic of the opposition.
Religious overreach
I do not mean to pour cold water on Ramkarpal Singh dressing down the home minister for that health spa raid, but the reality is that Madani is playing the religious card by persecuting the LGBTQ+ community. Reportage of the raid indicates how Nons were caught up in this.
The home minister has the gumption to claim no religion supports this activity, which basically sets the precedent that Islamic laws and norms apply to the Nons. See how dangerous this has become?
This home minister should be under investigation for his role in the FAM/Fifa scandal; hence, DAP should be pushing for him to be replaced. Is this a shocking thing to say?
Politicians, especially those in the ruling party, replacing ministers who are not performing or engaging in malfeasance, is a shocking thing to advocate? This, of course, is a normal process in any functional democracy.
And of course, the behaviour of the Royal Malaysia Police, which is getting iron-clad support from the home minister, is the reason why this country needs an Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct Commission (IPCMC).
Blind loyalty erodes integrity
Since the DAP is a stand-in for the Chinese community, they will be accused of controlling the government and any other racist propaganda the Malay establishment will throw at them. So what?
Look, the DAP is going to be demonised anyway. Political opportunists like Umno Youth chief Akmal Saleh understand that it really does not matter what they do because the DAP support base will not punish the DAP, unlike the Malay majority polity, who have demonstrated their willingness to shift their support to whatever reactionary Malay/Muslim party they think best serves their interests.
DAP supporters are always asking for solutions. The problem is that they don’t really want solutions because DAP, as a party, had the solutions. They had politicians who were willing to carry them out if given a chance.
What changed? The DAP realised that they could do whatever they wanted, discard any principle, kowtow to anything the Malay establishment wanted, and their supporters would still vote them in.
If the DAP were really serious about reforming the party and the country, they would be asking themselves the same question, rational Malaysians are asking: What is the point of remaining in Madani? - Mkini
S THAYAPARAN is commander (Rtd) of the Royal Malaysian Navy. Fīat jūstitia ruat cælum - “Let justice be done though the heavens fall.”
The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of MMKtT.

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