COMMENT | It took guts for DAP state assemblyperson Ronnie Liu to write about the Bersatu grand poobah Dr Mahathir Mohamad. Cajones is something lacking in DAP these days. The party has decided that questioning a prime minister and policy failure is something which sabotages Pakatan Harapan. Liu has had to declare his love for Harapan which further advances the narrative that DAP is the new MCA.

DAP national organising secretary Anthony Loke in condemning Liu's statements claimed that these were Liu's “personal" views and were not the stand of the party. Furthermore, he characterised Liu’s statements as “an act of sabotage to destabilise and disrupt the harmony of the (Harapan) coalition”.

The boy minister Syed Saddiq Abdul Rahman has since threatened to declare open season on DAP, PAS wants the DAP outlawed and Loke seriously thinks that Ronnie’s statement, a sentiment shared by many supporters, is an act of sabotage? This should really tell partisans how the powerbrokers in DAP think.

This, of course, is out of the playbook of DAP’s responses to anything that could put them in a negative light even if such statements are based on fact or principles. I will get back to this shortly. I have often argued that it is not constructive only blaming the old maverick for the sad state of Harapan affairs.

What I want to know is – and maybe some of you feel the same way – is what is DAP’s role in all of this? I say DAP because Liu is from DAP and although the DAP may wish to disavow his statements, they are part of the federal government and important partners in the coalition in terms of their number of seats, not to mention that Liu's commitment to principles should extend to how his party behaves in a coalition.

Liu’s piece about the "paper tiger" has been getting a lot of play, especially from partisans who view Mahathir as the great Judas of the Harapan dream. I suppose he is, but I want people to carefully consider a few points Liu raised and consider if Mahathir is solely to blame.

Liu wrote that the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (Icerd) and the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC) were things that could benefit Malaysia but because of Mahathir’s decision, it was shelved because of pressure from the right-wing. What Liu does not get into was where was the DAP in all of this. Indeed, the DAP gave the power to the grand poobah to make this decision. Lim Guan Eng believed that Mahathir was the “best person” to deal with this issue.

Lim, the finance minister and big cheese of DAP, said this: "Both Umno and PAS have been vocal on the issue saying there would be chaos if the treaty is ratified and I think Dr Mahathir Mohamad would be the best person to handle the issue."

DAP political operatives who did support the issue were called up by the state security apparatus. From news reports: “Chow (Yu Hui) and Chiong (Yoke Kong) are candidates for the DAP Socialist Youth chief and deputy chief's posts at the wing's upcoming elections this Sunday. The two had supported the Icerd ratification in their personal capacities.”

Here we go again - the "in their personal capacities” line of defence. I have never understood how there are so many political operatives in DAP who express personal opinions which are egalitarian and principled but which do not translate to official party statements. Funny, right?

Liu also goes on to say that while other Harapan leaders are calling for needs-based affirmative action, Mahathir is playing the same old game. Now I know what PKR leader Anwar Ibrahim has said about a needs-based approach but what has DAP done in terms of political strategies, policy or rhetoric that would act as a counternarrative to the grand poobah? Indeed as far as I can tell, the DAP has been tiptoeing around this issue and attempting all sorts of deflections because they are afraid to be seen as trespassing on Malay "rights".

Concerning the khat controversy, it was Lim Kit Siang, the grand old man of the party, who pushed the narrative that it was not an attempt at Islamisation (which earned him the moniker of Lim “Khat” Siang). The DAP was all over the place on this issue which led many to believe that the “don’t spook the Malays” narrative had erased that line in the sand when it comes to the intrusion of the state-sanctioned religion into public spheres of non-Muslims.

It is pointless laying all the blame on the old maverick’s doorstep especially when it comes to the Islamic agenda of Harapan. Mujahid Yusof Rawa, Harapan’s religious czar before the election, enjoyed popular support amongst the DAP base.

Indeed just three years ago, DAP leader Zairil Khir Johari was waxing lyrical over Amanah’s “progressive” Islam, “It (Amanah) is progressive because it’s what we agreed, all such matters are to be consulted with coalition partners. Consultation, or syura, is a tenet of Islam and the basis of democracy.”

So what happened to all that supposed consultation? Or is the claim now that the Islamic agenda of Harapan has nothing to do with coalition consultation and it is solely in the hands of the religious czar? Someone should tell this to activist Maryam Lee because I think she hopes the progressive Islamic elements of Harapan will back her up.

Can DAP understand why - beyond hardcore partisans - nobody really trusts that it can maintain its values in the face of the old maverick’s machinations? DAP parliamentarian Charles Santiago has to hang his head in shame when it comes to the coalition’s backtracking on the  Security Offences (Special Measures) Act (Sosma), but if we are really objective of the way how supine DAP has become, Harapan supporters should be hanging their heads in shame all the time.

Liu writes that Mahathir thinks he is all-powerful. The reason why he thinks this way is that nobody - certainly not from the DAP - has checked his power. They are too afraid that the coalition will break up. They are too afraid that Umno/PAS will take over the government. Or maybe, they are too afraid to lose power.

Don’t get me wrong. These are legitimate fears but if the DAP is unwilling to spend the political capital it has got now, then when will they ever be a part of the reforms that they claim would save Malaysia? Chiong Yoke Kong (whose quote is at the beginning of this article) got it right three years ago.