DAP risks squandering polls victory

DAP risks squandering polls victory
Kua Kia Soong | Mar 14, 08 1:09pm


comment The DAP’s squabble over the choice of mentri besar for Perak and deputy mentri besar for Selangor exposes the party’s surprising lack of integrity and professionalism.

If its leaders had these qualities, they would have simply put forward their candidates before the sultan for endorsement, as is required in our democratic system. Instead, the DAP leadership has continued with their tedious PAS-phobia posturing and in so doing, have demeaned our parliamentary democracy by passing the buck to the sultans.

In our democratic system, the Agung and the sultans merely endorse the executive list that is put before them by the ruling coalition. In Perak and Selangor, the DAP has created a serious precedent by passing over this prerogative to the respective sultans and it is all because of their PAS-phobia posturing in Perak and intra-party factionalism in Selangor.

It is a bad precedent and one which the DAP will have to take responsibility.

During the recent election campaign, we have seen the open support given by PKR and PAS to DAP candidates. None of these DAP candidates, as far as I know, asked these PAS supporters to stay away but were quite content to bask in the cross-ethnic support.

In Selangor, we have seen a situation in which the DAP cannot blame PAS but can only blame itself. The choice of deputy MP has become the arena of DAP’s intra-party squabble. Such factionalism in the DAP has been hitherto relegated to the gossip columns and the leadership is really showing contempt for the people of Selangor by dragging on the issue of deputy MB.

As in Perak, we have seen the DAP passing the buck to the sultan, who now plays the role of executive ruler instead of a constitutional monarch. Again, this is a bad precedent in which the peoples’ representatives have passed on their prerogative to the sultan.

Intra-party power struggles

The people of Selangor expect the DAP to make good their commitment to meritocracy and not air their petty intra-party power struggles in public.

If the DAP does not have a mechanism to assess the relative merits of their own candidates for deputy MB, how can they shout about the BN’s failure to honour meritocracy? The public knows that Teng Chang Khim has served longest in the Selangor State Assembly as a very capable leader of the opposition and any rookie forced down our throats by the DAP central leadership is not going to change that fact.

What is at stake is the credibility of the DAP central leadership. Their recent actions have shown that they are merely paying lip service to integrity and professionalism. They should mend their ways or prepare to face the consequences before long.

While we are on the subject of integrity and professionalism, the DAP should try to take a leaf from the disgraced MCA. Despite the MCA’s failings, there were two democratic principles of theirs the DAP should emulate:

1. Fixed terms for the party leader

It was surprising that this simple democratic principle should have emanated from Ong Ka Ting and not Lim Guan Eng. When are we going to hear the announcement of this elementary democratic principle from DAP?

2. No overlapping of federal and state offices

One normally expects such greedy ambitions of the BN representatives and not the opposition. However, we have seen numerous DAP candidates standing in federal as well as state seats in the recent elections.

Is there an assumption that serving the people in a federal constituency is so free and easy that these representatives can have the time to serve another state constituency? This seems to be a convenient invention of the opposition parties here which is anathema to the principles of people’s democracy.

I remember when I was in the Selangor DAP in the 90s and we managed to kick out from the state an MP who not only ran two private practices but still insisted on standing in a state constituency.

Clearly, political office had become a convenient career for these DAP representatives. But I am surprised that instead of progressing and making this principle standard throughout the party, the Selangor DAP has reverted to the old formula.

After all, haven’t we been told that there are now so many new talents in the DAP? So why do these old DAP leaders need to be so greedy? Is this all so that the people can be served better?

Did not Gerakan’s Dr Koh Tsu Koon choose to run only for a federal seat by giving up his state seat? Why is the opposition backward compared to the BN on this principle?

I pause for a reply…


Dr KUA KIA SOONG, head of New Era College, is former DAP member of parliament.

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