When politicians start giving themselves deadlines, it usually means that the public has already given them one, and in Malaysia, that deadline arrived on November 29,  2025.

This was the night DAP was wiped out in Sabah. The voters didn’t ask for a six-month timeline. They were more brutal. They delivered their verdict instantly.

So, when Loke says the government must “show hope” within six months, he’s not telling voters something new. The rakyat has been waiting two years to see that hope materialise. They didn’t see it in governance, in reform, or in courage.

Feeling disappointed, they delivered their verdict at the ballot box. Who can blame them?

Loke insists DAP will not bring down the government; but voters didn’t ask DAP to cause instability.

All Malaysians wanted was for DAP to show a backbone.

The sad thing, is that thus far, they are still waiting.

This then raises the central question: What exactly is the purpose of a six-month deadline if the outcome is predetermined? This all sounds like lip service only.

If, as Loke says, DAP “absolutely will not” allow the government to fall, then what exactly is being threatened? Moving to the backbench? Delivering stern speeches? Issuing more deadlines?

Political power without leverage is an art performance.

DAP’s crisis is not about cabinet posts or positions. It is about the credibility it once had as a party that dared to confront power, even when the odds were impossible. The party’s critics, including many of its own supporters, especially at the grassroots level, are not asking for melodrama. All they want is conviction.

They want to know why DAP stayed silent when Anwar’s government compromised on reforms they once called non-negotiable. They want to know why the party defended decisions it once condemned. They want to know why DAP leaders are suddenly speaking up only after voters have rejected them.

After the electoral earthquake, DAP secretary-general Loke Siew Fook said that the Unity Government has “six months” to show meaningful reform; however, he insists his party will not withdraw support for Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim no matter what. According to his recent interview, the party will “reassess its role,” perhaps move to the backbench, but it will not trigger a collapse of the Madani government.

To be truthful, that is not a deadline; that counts as political theatre.

For years, when in Opposition, DAP built its identity as the loudest, sharpest, most persistent critic of federal power. Today, its leadership is trying to convince the country that it is still fighting for reform; but at the same time, it insists that it will never abandon a government that has failed to deliver the reforms DAP once championed. Many Malaysians will say that this is the credibility trap the party now finds itself in.

Sabah voters saw it first. They punished DAP not because they suddenly turned hostile, but because silence from leaders who were once outspoken feels like a betrayal.

This “six-month plan” looks less like a roadmap for reform and more like an attempt to calm supporters who are threatening to walk away.

Even worse, it exposes a deeper contradiction because Loke is now promising reforms that DAP failed to secure for two years. Does he really think that we will believe him? At the same time, he admits that major decisions depend on the political sensitivities of other parties in the unity government.

Take the Unified Examination Certificate (UEC). Loke says he is willing to resign “tomorrow” if that would guarantee recognition. He acknowledges that resignation won’t necessarily fix it. The real issue is that the Unity Government is paralysed by fear of backlash. That was true yesterday, and remains true today. It will still be true six months from now, unless the underlying political culture changes.

The thing is that the public understands this. The Sabah voters certainly did.

Loke argues that reforms need time, planning, and political balance, and he’s right; but the problem for DAP is that voters no longer trust their timelines. They’ve heard them before. The public remembers promises about anti-corruption, institutional independence, and depoliticising education made years ago. The majority of the Malaysian public can see that many of these promises now move at the pace of a stalled MRT train. Or like KLIA’s aerotrain service. It just stopped functioning altogether and left passengers stranded in the KLIA tunnel.

The real deadline for DAP is not six months. Just in case DAP is unaware, it is happening right now, every day, in the court of public opinion.

To survive, DAP must rediscover its conviction and not just its caution. It must speak loudly before voters punish it, not after. It must also recognise that credibility lost in Sabah will spread if the party continues to behave like a guardian of the government rather than a guardian of its principles.

Voters no longer accept deadlines from political leaders who failed to meet the old ones. They want proof, not promises. They want courage, not caution. They want conviction, not creative excuses. They want leaders who act before ballots are cast, and certainly not because of how ballots were cast.

Six months won’t save DAP. However, the following might – integrity, consistency and courage.

We’ve heard the promises before, and now we want to see who keeps them, and who will hide behind these timelines.