I read with the keenest interest Malaysiakini's article Q&A: DAP not doomed , says Kit Siang where the DAP mentioned that he is '... not aware that there is any political party which had forsworn any intention of coming to power '

While I do agree with what Kit Siang said, the fact of the matter is that all opposition parties in Malaysia today, including DAP, do seem to have unwittingly forsworn such an intention, judging by their political strategies.

After almost half a century of independence, the sole reason for the Barisan Nasional's continued dominance in Malaysian politics seems to be that there is no viable alternative to government.

Even when the Malay ground was split in 1999 over the detention of Anwar Ibrahim, the rakyat had no choice but to return the BN government to power.

In The Malayan Parliamentary Election of 1964, KJ Ratnam and RS Milne wrote: ' in a country with so small a degree of consensus between the races, how could there be mutual cooperation between politicians of different ethnic origins inside a single party?'

Thus, when Onn Jaafar, as Umno president, wanted to open the door to non-Malays and work inside the party for the interests of the other races, he met with so violent an objection from party members that he decided to resign and form the multi-racial Independence of Malaya Party.

The newly formed party, however, was badly decimated in the first municipal elections held in 1952.

The political reality in Malaysia is that a single multi-racial political party is simply not a viable proposition.

Malaysia is still a very racial society. The rakyat has always stereotyped every multi-racial political party as a single-race party. The now defunct multi-racial Labour Party and Pekemas were both perceived as being Chinese-based. So also is Gerakan while the People's Progressive Party is perceived as being Indian-based.

On what justifiable grounds then, can Kit Siang continue to believe that the rakyat would perceive DAP as a multi-racial party in spite of everything that he has done? Is it any wonder why his proposal to merge DAP and Keadilan drew ferocious flak from the general public?

I certainly agree with Ratnam and Milne when they said: 'Only the Alliance had solved the dilemma of how to construct an effective party in Malaya through the device of communal parties, which were linked at the top in a non-communal union.

'It is the only party which can provide an inter-communal basis for politics and at the same time represent specifically communal interests.'

I believe Kit Siang will violently disagree with me, pointing to the debacles faced by the Gagasan Rakyat and the Barisan Alternatif (BA) in which DAP had participated.

I must regret to say that any cooperation between any Malay-based party and DAP today will always be, in the words of Tunku Abdul Rahman, an 'association between frogs and rats', what with DAP's uncompromising stance towards meritocracy that did not go down too well with the Malay populace.

While the Tunku was referring to the Socialist Front back then, is it not correct that his contention still holds true today? I personally believe that the two-thirds majority long held by the BN would have been dented in 1999 had the opposition parties gone to the polls separately. The BA was a desynergistic coalition where 1 + 1 + 1 = 1.

Kit Siang must recognise the fact that the Malays are not ready for meritocracy. Under the circumstances, we must not ignore their fears and the fact that historically, Malaya was Tanah Melayu.

With DAP's uncompromising stance on meritocracy that was perceived by Malays as highly unfavourable to them, is it not clear why DAP has been perceived as 'anti-Malay'? Any talk of a full meritocracy must therefore wait until such time when most Malays have reached a level where they can compete on an equal footing with the other races.

In the meantime, DAP must support 'Malay special rights', if only to allow them to live comfortably in their motherland. Unfortunately, what counts as 'Malay special rights' today is so wide that all rights given to Malays, whether justified or unjustified, are deemed to be 'Malay special rights'.

I personally feel that the DAP has to change its hitherto uncompromising stance if it ever hopes to form the government. It must accept Malay dominance in politics and the provision of reasonable special Malay privileges.

Under the present political scenario, it is unlikely that DAP will be able to find a suitable Malay political party to head an alternative coalition. Keadilan is not a creditable choice by any measure.

Without a suitable existing Malay party to form a possible coalition, and to prevent divergent and conflicting political ideologies that would again lead to dis-synergy, DAP must therefore initiate a broad framework to facilitate the emergence of communal parties to join its proposed coalition.

This framework may include, inter-alia, the following guidelines:

1) The proposed prime minister shall be permanently Malay or bumiputera, but not necessarily Muslim, with two deputy prime ministers, one Chinese and another to be rotated among the various minority races.

2) The proposed coalition will uphold both the social contract on which Malaya gained independence and the 1963 Malaysia Agreement in which Sabah and Sarawak agreed to join the Federation. It will reaffirm Bapa Malaysia Tunku Abdul Rahman's nation-building formula of a democratic, secular, multi-religious nation with Islam as the official religion but not an Islamic state.

3) It will protect the institution of democracy and restore public confidence with a truly independent judiciary and a just rule of law.

4) To ensure a corrupt-free government and be ranked among the world's 10 least corrupt nations, it will propose two anti-corruption agencies, one to be run by the government and the other, by the opposition leader in parliament.

5) It will continue to uphold 'special Malay rights', but not at the expense of non-Malays.

6) It will provide ample opportunities for education up to university level for all Malaysians who qualify, irrespective of race.

Malays can continue with their matriculation and proceed to universities that are specially designated to accept such entrance requirements. Non-Malays, and Malays who opt for the STPM, will attend a different category of universities that specifically require STPM qualification as an entrance requirement. In this way, the quality of some of our universities can be safeguarded and be internationally recognised as world class .

7) In view of developments in globalisation, and with the huge potential in China and India, it will look for viable opportunities for non-Malays to participate in these new developments.

While many of our neighbours export maids and labourers, Malaysia will export doctors, engineers and other professionals. To this end, it will encourage the further development of more Chinese and Indian vernacular primary schools.

In short, the proposed coalition will position itself and symbolise what the BN is not, and not merely be a duplicate copy of the latter.

In its obsession to out-Islam-ise PAS and in the absence of a viable alternative government, the BN has lost touch with the people. This augurs well for a new coalition to offer a creditable alternative government 'for the rest of us'.

This proposed framework must, of course, be tentative, and subject to negotiations between coalition partners, otherwise the Barisan Nasional will find reasons and excuses to accuse it of being a mere DAP-sponsored proposition.

To form the coalition, DAP must withdraw from its multi-racial position and reposition itself as a solely Chinese-based party. It would then actively solicit capable Malay and Hindu Indians to form separate communal parties. Non-Chinese members within DAP can then join the respective component parties while Karpal Singh can remain in DAP as an honorary Chinese.

Once the respective component parties are formed, DAP must in no way meddle with the internal affairs of these component parties. For this coalition to succeed, DAP must also be willing to subordinate itself to the Malay party. Political parties representing the other minority races, particularly in East Malaysia, should then be encouraged to join this coalition.

The formation of a creditable alternative coalition will no doubt pave the way for the emergence of a two-coalition system in Malaysia.

Hopefully then, we can see Kit Siang as our next deputy prime minister, after so many years of unswerving service and sacrifice to the nation. See you at the top!