AFTER years of vilifying each other, the tone taken by some DAP and Umno leaders, especially in Perak, hints at a truce of sorts and even the off-chance possibility of their forming a state government after working together in bringing down the previous menteri besar. 

There is every logical reason for this to happen, and conversely, every political reason for it not to. 

People tend to overlook the fact that Umno lost federal power in 2018 with its support base largely intact. The swing that enabled Bersatu and Amanah to snatch a few Malay-majority seats and DAP, PKR and Warisan to do better in the mixed seats did not cripple Malaysia’s still-largest party, only clipping its financial wings and denying it its traditional government machinery and propaganda resources. 

Like it or not, Umno still largely speaks for the Malay community and continues to have its finger on the pulse.  

Likewise, since 2008, non-Malay minority support has largely been with the DAP, who seems to still enjoy support for championing minority issues. 

Politically speaking, the two parties are almost evenly matched, in terms of representation, at the federal level, apart from Perak, Penang, Johor and Negri Sembilan.  

Having two large parties on the same political bloc will immediately cut down plenty of the political noise drowning our national issues – especially those stemming and evolving from the handling of Covid-19. 

A truce between the two could also dramatically improve soured race and religious relations.  

For years, seemingly innocuous issues like education and poverty eradication have taken a racial and religious undertone, sometimes explicitly, but almost always implicitly as politicians pander to emotive arguments and communal populism.

Many issues that were previously non-starters have been hyped up and turned into war cries that now are increasingly clear.

While it helps winning a few votes, the damning permanent effect on social ties is increasingly evident. Having both sides of the argument sitting at the same political table, as Umno once did with a few minority parties within Barisan Nasional in the 1990s, has an upside other than the institutional damage to the system, and for allowing largesse and even corruption to be somewhat normalised. 

In recent months, the two parties have shown they were able to put aside political differences a little while.

The federal budget debate was one such instance, where common goals included the rights of marginalised Malaysians – extension of the moratorium, removal of restrictions to EPF withdrawals and more aid for B40 and frontliners.

In Johor, a PH-appointed speaker ran the state assembly proceedings relatively more peacefully compared to speakers appointed by the government of the day. And of course, in Perak, they cooperated in bringing down the less than popular menteri besar, with the help of PKR. 

Perhaps with a calm enough political backdrop, even hot-button topics like UEC and religious schools can be discussed in a rational and logical way. 

The heated, volatile political temperature could be lessened with a ceasefire between these parties. Although officially the enemies across the aisle are PH on one end and PN on the other, the reality is most of PH rage is targeted against Umno while in reverse, DAP is the favourite political target of PN.

While DAP often accuses Umno of corruption, the actual target is not the million or so Umno ordinary members who have the same day jobs and economic struggles as everyone else, but the leaders who not only have been charged, but in some cases convicted of corruption and abuse of power.

Likewise, when DAP is charged with chauvinism and anti-Malay, anti-Muslim rhetoric, it isn’t through the actions of all its members but the statements of a few which have been twisted out of context.

Besides, for all this to take place, there isn’t even a need to be full on allies, but perhaps an arrangement to put hard politics on the back-burner and work on common issues that affect all Malaysians. 

Of course, detractors would point to the years of enmity and distrust, but in the current political landscape, any equation is possible – even one as unlikely as the rocket and the keris.  – December 9, 2020.

* 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.