To a certain extent, the return of DAP chairperson Lim Kit Siang to parliament to reoccupy the office of the leader of the opposition can be seen in a positive aspect amidst the many negative circumstances and trends faced by the opposition as a whole.

At least, there is still an experienced and skilful leader on the opposition bench to articulate and voice the concerns of Malaysians who do not agree with the Barisan Nasional (BN) government which now dominates the legislature, controls the judiciary together with various branches of the executive like the police and the Election Commission besides manipulating the mainstream media.

For idealistic as well as practical reasons (like avoiding national groupthink

), we still need alternative opinions, perspectives and insights into various issues that affect Malaysians to be delivered in parliament.

In the past, Lim performed the role of leader of the parliamentary opposition with remarkable success and that was why DAP's 2004 campaign theme in the Kinta Valley calling on voters to return him to parliament worked like magic. There is hope or nostalgia for him to be evergreen in his parliamentary performance.

After a five-year absence from parliament, Lim can be expected to liven up parliament with his quick and sharp - and sometimes also dramatic or even theatrical - critiques and exposes though the mainstream media can only be expected to report selectively.

Wonders, miracles

This has always been an important element of representative or parliamentary democracy, and no 'internal checks and balances' within the ruling coalition or other BN-sponsored 'liberal and progressive' mechanisms, institutions and public personalities can ever replace the role of a popularly elected opposition.

Like him personally or otherwise, the legally trained ex-journalist Lim has, over the last 30 years or so, accumulated a certain stock of knowledge of how the Malaysian government thinks and really works. Added to this are his skills and techniques for defining issues, debating them with his opponents and grilling them in the process.

However, there are also problems to be confronted by DAP in the longer run and within a larger context:

One, the personal achievements of Lim has paradoxically and effectively created a dependency-syndrome and even an ill-informed arrogance among the party's hard core supporters who think that with him alone, the DAP can forever perform wonders and even miracles.

They are also under the impression that with a relatively revitalised DAP, they can bully other opposition party members, especially non-Malays in Parti Keadilan Rakyat (Keadilan) or PAS, like how BN supporters once bullied their DAP opponents.

Of course, more intelligent opponents of DAP would love to see DAP's leaders, members, supporters and well-wishers mentally trapped by this false self-image and 'triumphalism' until the next general election, if not forever.

They may even encourage DAP to become more haughty to further unite Umno and BN and to demoralise and confuse other major opposition parties.

Second, the impression that DAP scored a huge victory in Lim returning to parliament may mislead its hard core supporters into forgetting about the future of marginally-won seats like Kepong, Bukit Bintang and Bukit Gelugor. Already, DAP has lost its traditional stronghold in Kota Melaka to BN.

Acute crisis

Third, despite the fact that DAP still maintains a electoral machinery around the personalities of Lim and two or three other top leaders, the party's overall organisational structure has always been weak, chaotic and faction-ridden.

Four, after cutting-off ties with PAS and Keadilan and also antagonising many of their leaders, members, supporters and well-wishers because of the misunderstanding over seat negotiations and other matters, the party has earned a considerable amount of ill-will and ill-feeling among them, Muslims and non-Muslims alike.

Five, DAP is also facing an acute crisis of generational continuity and renewal. With the departure of middle-aged top national leaders like former secretary-general Kerk Kim Hock and former Selangor chairperson, Ronnie Liu as well as the factional marginalisation of former Youth chief Teng Chang Khim, it is still unrealistic to expect the much younger ones in their late 20s or early 30s, like Fong Po Kuan, to fill in the void instantly in the next several years.

Many social relations and nationwide field experience gathered personally by the departed or marginalised middle-aged leaders simply cannot be 'transferred' like computer files or folders with a click of the mouse.

So, in the long run, no debating skill of Lim can hope to save an isolated, besieged and faction-ridden DAP - without trusted friends and allies to help cover its flanks - from the next frontal assaults mounted by its more organised and resourceful opponents.

One or two samurais, however skilful, valorous or lucky, can never hope to prevail over a well-organised and strategically-guided and coordinated modern army.

Even this is assuming that the debating skills of Lim, 62, can still deliver ideas that are widely acceptable and attractive outside a community of ageing hardcore supporters in a changed and changing political environment.

JAMES WONG WING ON is chief analyst of Strategic Analysis Malaysia (SAM). Wong is a former DAP member of parliament for Kampar (1990-1995) and a former columnist for the Sin Chew Jit Poh Chinese daily (now Sin Chew Daily ). He read political science and economics at the Monash University in Melbourne, Australia. While in Sin Chew , he and a team of journalists won the top awards of Malaysian Press Institute (MPI) for 1998 and 1999.