Preliminary analyses of the Teluk Intan by-election indicate a silver lining in DAP’s loss of the seat as there seems to be a 3% increase in Malay support for the Chinese-dominated party compared to the outcome in the 13th general election.
Nevertheless, an important question to ask is: Why did so many voters from the other major races decide to vote for BN this time around? Chinese support for DAP plunged by 15% and Indian support by 10%.
At first sight, the strategy of fielding Dyana Sofia Mohd Daud for the race seemed a brilliant move to prove that DAP is indeed a multiracial party. Although a political greenhorn, Dyana was the ideal Malay candidate to win a seat that the party was already confident of retaining, considering the large majority it got in the general election. Who could be more Malay than a graduate of UiTM and a member of an Umno household? And she’s pretty to boot.
Unfortunately, that face alone was not enough to help her win the seat although it must have mesmerised some of the attendees at her campaign rallies.
More unfortunate still, DAP did not seem informed enough about her past affiliations.
For starters, the ambitious young woman started getting involved in politics as a member of the BN Supporters’ Club and her decision to switch sides could be construed as lack of loyalty. In this connection, it must be highlighted that Perak is unique in that voters there have learned to be extra vigilant because they paid a hefty price for choosing perfidious characters in the 12th general election.
Additionally, Dyana was observed to be inconsistent in responding to allegations that she played an active role in Perkasa. After vehemently denying that she was not affiliated with the group, she admitted that her mother was a member.
Not many voters have forgotten that Ibrahim Ali won his former Pasir Mas seat on a PAS ticket and Zulkifli Noordin was a founding member of PKR.
A vague manifesto
Dyana and DAP might have taken the by-election for granted for several reasons. It assumed that it already had the Chinese votes in hand. All it needed was about half of the Malay votes or even less. Thus, fielding a Malay woman seemed safe enough.
This over-confidence could have been the reason for its lacklustre manifesto. With Dyana pitching issues such as the GST and other national issues to a predominantly agrarian society showed a huge disjoint with sentiments on the ground.
She can be forgiven for she is still a newbie, but it is rather disappointing to see the DAP and Pakatan machinery’s lack of commitment to the cause. This could have been because of disgruntlement over the selection of the candidate.
There could be a variety of reasons for this attitude, but one sticks out like a sore thumb. Two weeks after Dyana joined DAP in 2012, she was appointed to the high profile position of political secretary to the top man himself, Lim Kit Siang. In less than two years, she became a candidate for a parliament seat. That must have irked some people in the party.
Most important, members of DAP in Teluk Intan might have preferred a candidate who has exhibited loyalty and dedication to the party, not one who is merely a token of DAP’s claimed multiracialism.
DAP and Pakatan have to realise that Malaysians have moved beyond pretty faces, recycled rhetoric and Malay tokenism.
By Kevin Fernandez, FMT
Dr Kevin Fernandez is a senior lecturer at the Political Science Centre for Language Studies and Generic Development, Universiti Malaysia Kelantan
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