Doom and gloom in DAP

THE stunned silence among DAP leaders in the wake of the house arrest issue was broken in a spectacular way Saturday (Sept 19) with Anthony Loke's offer to resign as Transport Minister.

It was a bombshell announcement but the red line had been breached with the conditional pardon for Datuk Seri Najib Razak and Loke, who is DAP secretary-general, felt he had no choice but to take responsibility.

This comes a month after he relinquished his post as Negri Sembilan DAP chief in the wake of his defeat in the Chennah seat.

Loke has once again done the gentlemanly thing.

DAP is in crisis mode and the party rank-and-file has been throbbing with anxiety over the house arrest decision for the man known as Bossku.

Loke’s resignation will send shock waves through the party even though there had been anticipation that both he and Federal Territory Minister Hannah Yeoh wanted to resign their Cabinet posts.

Actually, Loke had confided to a close circle several months ago about taking responsibility and stepping down as criticisms of DAP grew louder.

“If people are not happy with our party, there is no need for everyone to resign. I alone will resign,” he said to the closed circle who managed to persuade him to hold on back then.

It is unclear how Loke’s resignation will sit with Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.

A Putrajaya insider said the Prime Minister, during the Pakatan Harapan presidential council meeting on Friday (Sept 18) afternoon, had expressed his wish for the DAP ministers to remain in the Cabinet.

Anwar, said the insider, was adamant that Loke, as the leader of DAP and with whom he had a good working relationship, must stay put in the Cabinet.

The Prime Minister had also stressed that any decision made in the coming days must be done collectively.

Anwar’s concern is the stability of the government.

The decision over Najib has sent DAP into a tailspin. A DAP figure from Penang said he felt the impact more acutely than his party’s losses in the state elections.

Pakatan leaders have been tight-lipped and there has been a gag order among DAP politicians. The party did not want people speaking out of turn about an issue that involves the palace.

Several DAP sources said they would not be surprised Yeoh, who is known for being strong-willed, would also resign later on.

Her party leaders have told her not to be too hard on herself. They said Pakatan has done what it could and they have to abide by the King’s decision.

Yeoh is smack at the centre of the storm because she sits on the Pardons Board. Moreover, she had been vocal in opposing any sort of pardon for the man whom Pakatan leaders demonised as a “kleptocrat” in their road to power.

The pressure will mount in the coming days and memes and videos of what DAP leaders said about the pardon have started to pop up on social media.

Pakatan leaders had already ensured criticism and mockery when the former King granted Najib a reduction in his prison sentence and fines or what became known as a “discount”.

While it was doom and gloom on the Pakatan side, there was relief and an atmosphere of a dream come true on the Umno end about their former president.

Umno politicians flooded social media with expressions of thanksgiving to God and gushed gratitude to the King.

"We felt that Tuanku Agong had heard the pleas of our leaders at the recent party general assembly,” said a Selangor Umno politician.

Umno supreme council member Datuk Seri Alwi Che Ahmad carried out his pledge to shave his head bald and headed for Friday prayers in full baju Melayu attire.

Former parliamentarian Tony Pua, famous for his no-holds-barred stand on issues, posted on Facebook after the first Pardons Board meeting: “Trying to keep corrupt convicts in prison isn’t corruption or abuse of power. Those scums trying to free him/them are.”

The post received lots of supportive comments.

Everything changed after the house arrest decision and this time, Pua posted a collage of special characters, the sort one substitutes for impolite words.

The comments to the post overflowed with frustration and disappointment, with many reminding him that, “your girl signed it”.

There is some sort of supreme irony at play.

Najib’s central role in the 1MDB scandal led to the fall of Barisan Nasional in 2018. His house arrest is having an uncannily similar effect on Pakatan.

A Penang-based lawyer said that vowing to resign over issues or policies is fine but to threaten to resign on a matter that will ultimately be decided by the King is unwise and perhaps even suicidal.

The lawyer said that resigning over the pardon issue could also send negative signals to the Malays whom DAP is still trying to win over and may be seen as a defiant move.

“The government has done what it had to do. Najib was charged, tried and convicted. But pardons are the King’s prerogative,” said the lawyer.

In hindsight, Pakatan leaders have largely themselves to blame over the pardon issue.

They indulged in too much bravado and painted themselves into a corner.