opinion

The recent tantrum by DAP over PAS' Islamic state ideology leaves one bewildered at the banality of opposition politics at the moment. No wonder the Barisan Nasional has managed to cling to power for so long!

DAP's capriciousness is nothing new - it pulled out of Gagasan Rakyat in 1995 when PAS was then seen as the main stumbling block to DAP's Chinese votes. As I have pointed out in my 1996 publication Inside the DAP , DAP's position vis--vis the Barisan Alternatif (BA) is not so much the product of political economic analysis as motivated by the needs of opportunistic politics.

What is incredible is the demands DAP has been making lately on its BA partners:

A) Dictating who can join Keadilan

Not long ago, we saw the spectacle of DAP dictating who could or could not join Keadilan. It was considered an 'unfriendly act' for Keadilan to accept former DAP 'trouble makers'. The fact that Keadilan acceded to these ludicrous demands is even more remarkable.

The lack of clear principles on such a membership policy was lost on the coalition: How do you define 'former DAP trouble makers'? Was there a black list of these 'former DAP members'? If so, how far back in history does it go? For example, would I also be considered a 'former DAP trouble maker' if I had chosen to join Keadilan?

Clearly, the first principle of coalition politics is: mind your own members!

B) Demanding PAS abandons its Islamic state ideology

PAS has made its commitment to the Islamic state clear to everyone as long ago as 1986. It is the DAP's capriciousness that is the problem.

The very existence of different political parties is because of their espousal of different ideologies. Thus, Parti Sosialis Malaysia (PSM) is committed to its Socialist ideology just as PAS is committed to its Islamic ideology. It is ludicrous for DAP to demand that its coalition partners give up their ideologies.

Opposition coalition politics is premised upon coalition partners honouring their partners' ideologies while agreeing on a minimum programme to fight the ruling coalition.

Perhaps the DAP should make up its mind about what ideology it espouses. I think its leaders are confused about whether its ideology is 'Malaysian Malaysia' or 'democratic socialism'.

I would think that 'Malaysian Malaysia' hardly qualifies as an ideology otherwise you would find Gerakan and perhaps a whole lot of multi-racialists sharing that commonality.

How committed then is the DAP to 'democratic socialism'? While Tony Blair is riding high in Britain today, the DAP is pretty gung-ho about the blurry 'Third Way'. But I remember how, when the British Labour Party was in the political doldrums in the early 1990s and the DAP's Socialist Youth were all still in nappies, the DAP Central Executive Committee was considering pulling out of the Socialist International.

In all the five years I was in the DAP, democratic socialism was not once discussed in the CEC. I remember when the Tanjung Declaration that I had helped to draft was carried without discussion at the Special Congress in 1991.

I smirk sometimes when I see the spectacle of a lone DAP youth leader, Qiu Guangyao, declaring the DAP's commitment to democratic socialism, quoting Marx out of context and at the same time (opportunistically trying to outflank Keadilan) saying that the DAP does not believe in street demonstrations as a political method.

Anyone who does not support the legitimate right to demonstrations could not qualify as a Marxist - he is not even a democrat!

Thus, the second principle of opposition coalition politics is: mind your own ideology!

C) Deciding the main enemy

As in 1995, when it is under the pressure of the BN media onslaught, the DAP tends to forget who is the main enemy of the BA and the party mission in the first place. In my 1996 book, I revealed how a CEC leader had actually analysed that "in the eyes of the Chinese voters PAS is the main enemy"!

Notice that he did not base that analysis on his own political economic analysis but rather, it was "the eyes of the Chinese voters".

This mode of analysis, namely, sensing how the voters think ("That's why we're in politics, dammit!") is typical of DAP leaders. Unfortunately, it is not the analysis required of a democratic socialist who has to analyse who the main oppressor of the Malaysian people is and what the political economic forces keeping us unfree are.

Finally, the third principle of opposition coalition politics is clearly: mind your own analysis, or ... if you ain't in, you're out!

DR KUA KIA SOONG is the director of the social activist group, Suaram, and a former DAP member of parliament.