KUALA LUMPUR: DAP’s Bukit Gelugor MP Ramkarpal Singh Deo had famously said of any DAP partnership with Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad to topple Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak, as an “unimaginable disaster waiting to happen.”
He was voicing his opposition to such an unlikely partnership, as the son who is carrying his late father Karpal Singh’s legacy.
His father would probably have said, ‘over my dead body’ to such an unholy partnership.
But Ramkarpal was wrong when he said it in April last year, because many things have changed since. On Sunday, that “unimaginable disaster” took place amidst great unease among the DAP rank and file as DAP leaders welcomed Dr Mahathir with open arms to the party's annual delegates conference.
Should the man they had condemned for well over two decades be invited as a guest of honour at a DAP conference?
What kind of partnership can they forge with the man who had used the ISA to arrest DAP leaders? Why did the party invite him just a week after turning him down?
These questions are being asked and discussed among the grassroots as DAP leaders come under severe pressure from MCA and Gerakan to explain the “betrayal” to the larger Chinese community.
A week before Sunday's conference, DAP organising secretary Anthony Loke had announced that Dr Mahathir was persona non grata because PPBM, of which Dr Mahathir is chairman, is not a member of the Pakatan Harapan coalition.
His justification was weak but he stuck to his reasons.
A week later, Dr Mahathir made a grand entrance at the conference with veteran Lim Kit Siang, the latter’s son Guan Eng, life member Dr Chen Man Hin and their loyalists.
But some leaders, clearly upset with this turn of events, were unhappy. They did not hobnob with Dr Mahathir.
Everything at the DAP conference was built around Dr Mahathir who was seated at the stage, among Pakatan Harapan leaders, flanked on both sides by the “Lim Dynasty” loyalists.
Kit Siang was on his right and attentive to him but was visibly unsure of his footings.
A few days earlier, Najib had turn the tables on DAP, showing a video to Umno delegates of DAP rabble rouser ‘Superman’ Hew giving a speech on how Lim was exploiting Dr Mahathir to topple Najib.
Another clip showed Hew arguing as to why Chinese voters should support Malay candidates so that they can "screw the Malays.”
Najib had also claimed that the next general election would be a contest between Umno and the DAP, which Najib had described as anti-Malay and anti-Islam.
A political analyst, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the speech by Najib probably forced DAP to invite Dr Mahathir.
“They were caught by surprise over what Najib had said and are now trying to hide behind Dr Mahathir, a Malay leader."
"They were trying to deflect Najib's criticism by inviting Dr Mahathir to their conference," said the analyst.
Although delegates had welcomed Dr Mahathir, they nevertheless kept their real views to themselves.
Many think it is a recipe for disaster while other say that Dr Mahathir had become the country’s ‘Mr Opposition’, a role previously played by Lim, and cannot be denied.
“We can't be in isolation of Dr Mahathir,” said a DAP leader. “We have to run with the fox and hunt with the hounds. We don’t have a choice.”
But Dr Mahathir has sparked controversy among the rank and file with leaders coming under pressure to explain themselves.
“He is an opposition man for all intents and purposes… no matter what his policies towards us were or what were our policies to him,” said a DAP leader, justifying the changed attitude towards the former prime minister.
Some leaders however are clearly upset with his grand entry, refusing to hobnob with Dr Mahathir.
Dr Mahathir, who had once described DAP as “racist and anti-Malay and anti-Islam” said at the convention that he was badly wrong about the DAP.
He was forced to eat humble pie and repudiate two decades of politicking.
But such a marriage of convenience is founded on mutual benefits – the DAP leaders need his star power, pull with Malay voters and his ability to co-opt the opposition behind his agenda.
They needed something new to kick start their flagging appeal.
Dr Mahathir needs the opposition’s platform for his own ends having none of his own and the DAP has the best, biggest and the most well organised platform of all.
“This episode is typical of the DAP - to jump first and think later,” said a DAP delegate summarising the episode. “Just like with Pas, they will live to regret this new alliance.”