“Nobody ever won an election by spitting at his political opponents.”
– David Frum, Canadian author
THERE is one recent episode which I’m sure many of us can recall, and it best sums up why the politics of survival is more important than keeping your word to your supporters or the people at large.
It’s true. At times, political expediency takes priority over everything else in the quest for position and power.
Remember the “No Anwar, No DAP” declaration by Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi prior to GE15 in November 2022. It was a clear and firm rejection of cooperation with both Anwar Ibrahim (PKR president, Pakatan Harapan leader) and the Democratic Action Party (DAP).
However, what took place after the election probably tells us best why “there are no permanent friends or enemies in politics”.
Someone once wrote that “an important lesson learnt after GE15 is that there are more devils than angels in politics and that what politicians claim to stand for before they get your vote changes after they get the vote”. I agree 100 per cent.
Thirty-two months into the Unity Government, it is not wrong to state that there is no real unity, at least not between the two prominent Chinese-based parties – DAP and MCA.
The deep-rooted distrust, public ridicule and vastly different political cultures make cooperation near impossible among them.
While DAP and Umno may find it easier at times to cosy up, the same cannot be said of DAP and MCA. They are worlds apart, and their top political goal is to ‘exterminate’ each other at all costs.
Indeed, the proverb that “Two tigers cannot live on the same mountain” fits perfectly into the MCA-DAP situation today. Their decades of rivalry make peaceful coexistence nearly impossible, as each strives for either supremacy or political survival.
There have been several serious disagreements between DAP and MCA that have been debated in the open. Though not surprising, the public spats did not augur well for the image of unity of the Madani government, which the prime minister has taken pains to project.
The latest quarrel occurred on August 2 when DAP Kampar MP Chong Zhemin hit out at MCA deputy president Mah Hang Soon over his social media remarks ridiculing 30 DAP MPs who visited UMNO’s headquarters for a briefing on technical and vocational education and training (TVET).
Chong said Mah’s comments, including describing the MPs as “infatuated schoolgirls” and “so aroused it shows”, were vulgar, demeaning and aimed at sowing discord within the Unity Government.
He said the August 1 briefing, chaired by Deputy Prime Minister and Umno President, Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, in his capacity as head of the national TVET council, was strictly about policy matters.
“The purpose of the visit by 30 DAP MPs was crystal clear: to strengthen policy coordination on TVET, improve resource allocation, and promote inter-ministerial cooperation,” he said in a statement.
That episode was quite badly handled by both parties, as it exposed an impossible working relationship between them.
These are some of the key episodes of the DAP-MCA clash that have been in the public sphere since the Unity Government was formed in 2022.
On December 1 that year, MCA voiced dissatisfaction with being sidelined while DAP took prominent ministerial roles, reigniting claims of DAP’s hypocrisy after years of attacking BN and Umno.
In March 2023, MCA president Wee Ka Siong criticised the Education Ministry (held by a DAP minister) over the issue of imported eggs and food security. DAP leaders shot back, accusing MCA of fearmongering and opportunism.
A spat erupted in June 2023, when DAP’s Lim Kit Siang urged MCA to apologise for allegedly failing to stop the May 13, 1969 riots – a historical flashpoint that enraged MCA members.
MCA boycotted a BN-PH Unity Government secretariat meeting in October 2023, stating they could not sit at the same table with DAP unless an apology for past insults was issued.
In March 2024, MCA launched subtle campaigns against DAP over Chinese school funding, calling DAP a party that “sacrifices principles for power”, even though both are in the same ruling coalition.
In May last year, DAP Youth and MCA Youth traded barbs over local council elections, accusing each other of betrayal and flip-flopping.
Add in the recent episode of the past few days, and I think this is one quarrel too many for the two partners in the ruling coalition.
It is sad indeed and also unfair to the people at large that while both MCA and DAP exist within the same government on paper, their long-standing enmity and ideological chasm make genuine cooperation highly unlikely.
This highlighted the fractured and fragile nature of Malaysia’s Unity Government. Seriously, if MCA and DAP find it impossible to tolerate each other, let alone work together, then it’s time to do the honourable thing.
MCA can quit the Unity Government but continue to be in the BN.
A precedent has been set. In Sarawak, DAP is in the opposition while it is part of the Unity Government at the federal level.
● Francis Paul Siah is a veteran Sarawak editor and currently heads the Movement for Change, Sarawak (MoCS). He can be reached at sirsiah@gmail.com
DISCLAIMER:
The views expressed here are those of the columnist and do not necessarily represent the views of Sarawak Tribune.
