FORMER tourism minister Rais Yatim went on record this week saying DAP’s image should be softened, implying both that DAP has a hardliner image, and that this was to blame, at least in part, for Pakatan Harapan’s loss in Semenyih.

At the same time, Economic Affairs Minister Azmin Ali said that the Bumiputera development agenda needs now be pursued more aggressively and unapologetically.

While it is perfectly understandable for PH to want to regain lost ground, the entire scenario should be taken in context, and weighed against many changes on the ground that happened since the last general election.

First, the status quo has not really changed. Semenyih is the first seat that any incumbent party has actually lost – the previous five by-elections saw the voters stick to their choice party from before the general elections.

In the case of Semenyih, three additional factors should be considered – that Semenyih was a Barisan Nasional stronghold prior to the last general election, that the choice of candidate failed to impress the locals, and that PH won Selangor with an unprecedented landslide, with 51 of 55 seats, possibly leading to voters’ guilt about it being overkill for BN.

Second, the Umno-PAS alliance. When reviewed carefully, the support for PH did not really “reduce” significantly, nor has support for BN increased overnight. While there is of course an unmistakable swing, the loss is mainly due to the consolidated votes of these two parties bundled together. Directly connected to this is the re-invigorated opposition against a government whose supporters seem to have fallen quite complacent and whose members are suffering from political fatigue from nonstop political campaigns since a year ago.

Third, the lack of coordination and communication between the government machinery and rakyat. There seems to be no centralised rallying point or underlying theme. While individual ministers have delved into their respective portfolios at differing levels of results and communication of those results, government announcements seem too few and far in between, and much of what they have accomplished have been overshadowed by what they have not.

For example, abolishing the goods and services tax and implementing the less painful sales and services tax was no small feat and the way the new government tackled the concerns of the business community was unfortunately overshadowed by its inability to abolish National Higher Education Fund Corporation loans and tolls, at least as quickly as the people expect them to.

The cancellation, deferment, and renegotiation of several large projects without announcement of new ones; austerity measures which saw reduction in direct allocations to the rakyat; as well as reduced performance by government-linked companies and government-linked investment companies provided ammunition to the opposition to paint the new government as having policies detrimental to the economy, while ridiculous statements by some ministers made easy fodder in social media – the latest example being our unhealthy obsession with flying cars.

The information output of the government needs to be controlled. A fair and free media does not need to include a hapless and clueless government PR machinery, nor are government ministers obliged to make occasional fools of themselves to make up for lack of actual leadership coming from their offices.

Politics is about perception, and while communal politics are not ideal nor a founding principle of Pakatan Harapan, that it exists should not be ignored, but used. This means Bersatu should better communicate to their member and target voter base PH’s wins and plus points instead of taking potshots at their colleagues.

All things considered, DAP has toned down plenty on its firebrand rhetoric from the 90s and early 2000s. Nothing DAP have asked or is asking for its voter bloc is much different from what MCA, MIC or even UMNO or PAS have asked for in recent times – UEC recognition, an open tender process, institutional reform, and meritocracy. Short of changing its logo from a rocket to a balloon, or forcing its Chinese members to go into hiding, there really is not much “softening” of DAP’s image that can be done.

Dancing to PAS and Umno’s tune of racial and extreme right politics would be allowing them to lead PH into a domain they have far more experience in over a hundred years between them. PH, being the ruling coalition and needing to take into consideration the sensitivities of all local communities as well as international relations, would of course not be able to go on a no-holds-barred diatribe as well as their enemies can.

PH and its leaders should be confident and consistent in upholding the tenets that brought them and Malaysia together in the first place. Rebuilding Malaysia and bringing her back to her glory economic and social days would be the best chance PH has against racial politics. – March 5, 2019.

* Emmanuel Joseph firmly believes that Klang is the best place on Earth, and that motivated people can do far more good than any leader with motive.

* This is the opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malaysian Insight. Article may be edited for brevity and clarity.