Why DAP’s July congress is more than just political theatre

Nehru Sathiamoorthy

Come 12 July, the DAP is going to walk the talk on the word it gave after the Sabah election.

How so? On that date, the party will convene a special congress – brought forward from September – where over 4,000 central delegates will decide whether its leaders and representatives should continue to serve in Anwar Ibrahim’s government.

According to secretary general Anthony Loke, the congress will function as an internal “referendum”. Delegates will vote on whether DAP ministers, deputy ministers, state executive councillors, local councillors and even government-linked company appointees should resign from their posts – while the DAP’s 40 MPs continue backing the “unity government” in Parliament to ensure stability.

If delegates decide it is more principled not to serve in Anwar’s administration, all of the DAP’s office-bearers in government will quit their executive positions. They will, however, still support Anwar’s administration in Parliament and not participate in any so-called backdoor government.

The critics

Some people, like former DAP deputy chairman P Ramasamy, have derided the decision as a “PR exercise” or said it is not meaningful, because the DAP has already stressed it will continue to back the government regardless of the outcome. Ramasamy even questioned why hold the congress at all if the government’s stability is not at stake.

But Ramasamy is likely being personal, not objective, in his assessment. Objectively speaking, the DAP’s decision is principled. It will be taken not only by its members but by people across the country as a case of the DAP making good on the promise it made after the Sabah election – where it was trounced and lost all the seats it contested.

After that setback, the DAP declared it would accelerate the pace of reform, and specifically raised the demand that the Unified Examination Certificate (UEC) be recognised, warning it would otherwise have to re-evaluate its position in the unity government.

Since that declaration, however, not only has the UEC not been recognised, political signals have moved in the opposite direction. The prime minister made it clear that any recognition must align with the national education policy and preserve the primacy of the Malay language.

As for reforms more broadly, the controversy surrounding Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission Chief Commissioner Azam Baki – including explosive allegations by Bloomberg that MACC officers across the agency have been involved in illegal corporate dealings – raises serious questions about who guards the guards in this country.

These developments chip away at any impression that the unity government is moving decisively towards structural reform.

A public shaming

Before the DAP announced it would let its delegates decide, even I had mocked the idea that the DAP would find a way to wriggle away from its promise. The post I made received over 100,000 views on Facebook alone.

In a small way, that public scepticism may have contributed to shaming the DAP into remembering that honour and self-respect matter more than position and status. There is no point, after all, in winning the world if you lose your soul in the process.

By every measure, Anwar’s government is failing to fully own up to its promise of reform. Anwar seems too preoccupied with political calculations and keeping his administration afloat to do what he knows is right and what he has promised to do.

Between “let the heavens fall, but justice be done” and “it is acceptable to retreat today to fight another day”, Anwar – ironically the leader of PKR (People’s Justice Party) – has repeatedly chosen the latter.

Even voices within his own party, particularly former deputy president Rafizi Ramli, have criticised his cautious approach. Yet Anwar persists with his calculations, compromises and stratagems.

The logic of sacrifice

Given all that, it is entirely appropriate for the DAP to let its delegates – the highest decision-making body of the party – decide what its leaders and representatives must do.

Loke himself admitted that under normal circumstances such decisions would have been made by the central executive committee, but given the current climate and the impact of the Sabah election, it is necessary to institutionalise and democratise the process.

If the DAP’s leaders themselves decided to resign from their posts in the unity government, it would suggest a rebellion – a loss of confidence in Anwar’s administration.

But if they resign after their delegates instruct them to do so, their sacrifice would force Anwar to look at himself in the mirror, without them being seen as rebels against his leadership or as people eager to topple his government.

If the DAP’s leaders are forced to resign, their act would be akin to lieutenants and generals committing ritual suicide before the leader – not to overthrow him, but to convey the message that the leader and his soldiers are no longer of one heart and mind.

Without the sacrifice, they could be accused of trying to overthrow the leader. But through their sacrifice, they prove their intention is sincere – that they remain loyal until their last breath, true to their duty to those who follow them, while safeguarding their principles and self-respect.

By saying they will only decide on 12 July, they are also giving Anwar enough time to do what is right.

Even if not specifically on the UEC, Anwar really has to do something meaningful to honour his promise of reform and change. He cannot forever be calculating and playing politics, waiting for a better time to act.

There is never going to be a perfect moment. Sometimes you must have the courage to act first, and create the conditions for the right time to arise.

Hopefully, Anwar will understand that by 12 July.

If he does not, and continues on his current trajectory, I am quite sure that DAP’s delegates will indeed force their leaders to commit political ‘ritual suicide’ – and Anwar will have no one to blame for the weight of that decision but himself.

Nehru Sathiamoorthy is a regular content creator for a news aggregator app.

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