DAP SET TO TOPPLE ANWAR

DAP SET TO TOPPLE ANWAR

Emboldened by the election results 2013, the DAP party machinery has set about working towards lowering Anwar Ibrahim’s profile and reducing his family’s hold on the Parti Keadilan Rakyat (People’s Justice Party) with PKR. The long knives are out. And Anwar’s star appears to have been eclipsed by the rising red star in Malaysia.

Speaking with DAP officials (in Penang by telephone and) in Kuala Lumpur at a post election dinner with members of the international media, a party official who did not wish to be named,admitted to disquiet within the ranks of the Pakatan. Their beef he said is about Anwar Ibrahim’s disproportionately high profile within the opposition.

WHAT’S WRONG WITH ANWAR

The party official said on condition of anonymity, that Anwar’s profile has led to  a growing and hostile call from many amongst  the mainly Chinese party members in the PKR for Anwar and his family to adopt a lower profile or to lay low for a while. There is a general feeling amongst the Chinese in Malaysia that the “tail can now wag the dog” without any non Chinese help.

As for the Anwar Ibrahim clan he was more specific: “They attract the kind of attention we do not need. Many are saying that victory could have been ours had it not been for the Anwar factor. Many amongst the Chinese see Anwar as a figure with a high profile but not the kind of high profile we need to get anywhere”. But according to the DAP party official in Penang.  “It is the Chinese vote that won the day, PKR or otherwise”.

Although an impressive victory for the opposition and to some extent one that was predicted, the results did not reflect what many in the western media believed would be that “very close” result.

Amongst the “independents” are opposition plants and Barisan plants. It short what that means is that the official results do not in truth reflect the  ground realities distorted by the loyalties of the so called “independents”.

THE CHINESE COME OUT AS THE CHINESE DO

These elections were run along race lines. En mass the Chinese voted with the opposition. That included members of the MCA who defected in large numbers to the DAP and PKR driven by race loyalties in the belief an outright victory was theirs. It had nothing to do with being “Malaysians”.

These are voters encouraged and funded by Chinese entrepreneurs who also funded much of the DAP’s campaign. Many of these entrepreneurs themselves beneficiaries of the largesse of the Barisan via the MCA.

There was mass defection from the MCA electorates into the DAP fold believing that an imminent change of government “would sweep them back to the kampungs” moment was at hand. Echoes of 13 May 2013.

The Penang official was unequivocal. “We can do it” he said confidently. The Indians did not count in our view. The Malays did not offer the resistance they thought they had and we divided them”.

MALAYS INDIANS AND THE BARISAN’S FUTURE

It is quite clear that the Indians are likely to be the biggest beneficiaries in the outcome of GE13 however small their gains in total. If the Barisan works closely with the likes of Waytha Murthi and their MIC allies, they will not need the shifting loyalties of the Chinese to carry the day. It is a two way street and has to be treated as a two way street in this regard.

But much more needs to be done for the Malays themselves many of whom now are urban dwellers who have been ignored and trampled on in the scramble to change the economic and political landscape of a post Mahathir Malaysia. And from tthe interviews with many urban Malays there is a widely held perception the Barisan government did not do enough for them at the grass roots level. This was payback time for them.

What is clear from this election and the results of the previous elections in 2008 is that the government is vulnerable. Very vulnerable to large swings if it does not act to stem the outflows from their own ranks mainly the Malays.

Furthermore, unless they the Barisan government does something about groups such as the Malaysian Bar and the so called NGO’s and churches who interfere in politics without a mandate to do so, these groups will continue to spook the public with their scurrilous and outrageous claims amounting to criminal defamation, undermining racial and religious harmony dividing the people of Malaysia.

If the government fails to act and act now on these groups, they will be perceived as being weak, incompetent , sub-servient and even reactionary to the politics of self interest groups. It cannot afford to let that happen.

ASSAULTS ON MIGRANT WORKERS THE GOVERNMENT MUST ACT

The Barisan has the authority now to take on those elements who assaulted the Nepali, Myanmarese and Bangladeshi workers  during polling in Selangor. They must  charge the offenders and deal the full force of the law on the provocateurs,  fine the political parties who engineered the rumours and incited the assaults  without delay.

These reported assaults were the result of incitement by the opposition leadership. A hefty fine could bankrupt the party if necessary in much the same way Ben Jeyaratnam and his political party was bankrupted by Lee Kuan Yew in Singapore for a lesser form of misconduct.

AN IRON FIST IN A VELVET GLOVE OR PERISH

The government must rule with an iron fist if it indeed wishes to continue in its path of stability and economic prosperity. It must act decisively and swiftly to curtail the chauvinists who are likely to grow by numbers and actions if not checked.