By Yong Wong Peng

Looking back at the 14th general elections in 2018, DAP was vociferously launching its narrative to "wipe out MCA and Gerakan", arguing that voting for these two parties were akin to supporting Umno.

That slogan worked very well, and indeed, many Chinese leaders who used to work so hard and voice up for the Chinese community were taken down one by one, successfully ridding the Chinese voices in the BN.

And Umno's arrogance has gone a notch higher, even to an extent that makes DAP fantasize they should consider working with the party they hated so much.

DAP organizing secretary Anthony Loke said during a live interview in conjunction with the party's 55th anniversary recently that DAP's "traditional enemies" were MCA, Gerakan, MIC and SUPP, not Umno, as the party had never contested head-to-head with it.

So, Umno is not DAP's enemy?

Then what did it mean when the party claimed during the last election that voting for MCA and Gerakan was equivalent to supporting Umno? The voters really get confused now. Perhaps DAP should do some proper explaining before the next election.

Loke's latest interpretation is that DAP wanted very much to bring down an Umno dominated by corruption and abuse of power, insisting that the party will never work with any corrupt people from Umno in future. So, DAP can still consider working with Umno people with a clean sheet if such a need arises, right?

Three months ago after the former Perak MB was toppled and DAP worked in coordination with Umno for the first time, the party's deputy secretary-general Nga Kor Ming posted a question which tagged Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi and PKR president Anwar Ibrahim on social media: "Are you ready?", as he held out the olive branch tyring to gauge the preparedness of a DAP-Umno or even PH-Umno collaboration.

Records show that Ahmad Zahid, facing 45 counts of CBT, abuse of power and money-laundering charges in total, is still needed to appear before the court every now and then at this moment. When Nga posted the "Are you ready?" question, the Umno president was tagged, and this is inconsistent with the recent statements made by Anthony Loke and Lim Guan Eng that the party will never cooperate with corrupt Umno leaders.

Since its inception, DAP has been upholding its political philosophy of a "Malaysian Malaysia". Unfortunately, the party later deviated to be one that specifically attacked MCA and Gerakan candidates. The "voting for MCA and Gerakan is akin to supporting Umno" electoral strategy worked particularly well in the last election, and DAP savored the sweet taste of power for the first time under the PH coalition to officially take over the political role previously played by MCA and Gerakan. But sadly, the party submissively played second fiddle in the ruling camp helmed by former PM Tun Mahathir, tragically treading down the same old path taken by MCA and Gerakan for decades in previous BN administrations.

After DAP was rudely thrown back to the opposition ranks once again following the infamous "Sheraton Move", the party has since lost its once outspoken voices. Today, the party unilaterally sends out the message of cooperation to Umno, and is finding excuses to defend its move. But what about the "MCA/Gerakan=Umno" narrative?

Based on DAP's latest interpretation, Umno is not DAP's rival, then what about its "traditional enemies" MCA and Gerakan, both Umno's allies in BN?

While DAP has lit the green light, Umno is still rambling about hunting for better prospects without showing the slightest hint of accepting DAP's well-intentioned proposal. In the end, DAP may find itself just a helpless chess piece on Umno's chessboard while dropping out of the favor of the community which used to overwhelmingly support it.

Perhaps DAP should learn to do things quietly, and never, never be like Anwar who has fervently sought Umno's nod for a tie-up without realizing there are still chronic factional conflicts within his own party that need to be fixed.

From a ruling party to an opposition one, we don't see DAP picking up its morale to convince the voters of their policies or their willingness to implement institutional reforms. Sorry to say, but up till this minute the party still has not shown us a clear direction.