DAP is open to a pact with long-time nemesis Umno, if the necessary conditions are in place, said DAP leader P. Ramasamy.

This includes an equal partnership and a common platform, said the Penang DAP deputy chairman and deputy chief minister II.

“If all the circumstances arise, it is alright for DAP to co-operate with Umno on an equal basis, provided that they agree to a common platform, where there will be serious attempts to reduce ethnic and religious politicking.

“We also agree to certain common denominators where the future of the country, and the wellbeing and the welfare of the people are of paramount importance.

“In those circumstances, it is possible,” Ramasamy told The Malaysian Insight.

So far, party secretary-general Lim Guan Eng has ruled out any political co-operation between DAP and Umno in the coming 15th general election.

Lim said the DAP central committee will have to make a decision first so, until then, any co-operation can only be limited to restoring Parliament sittings or for the people’s welfare, such as funding for opposition constituencies.

Meanwhile, Ramasamy said if DAP had been able to work with former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad, then there should be no problem working with Umno, subject to the aforementioned conditions.

Most of all, DAP must not be made to “bow” to Umno and collaboration must be on an equal footing.

“You cannot expect (DAP) to kowtow to Umno, as MCA, MIC and Gerakan have done. That was the complete failure of the (Barisan Nasional) coalition, where Umno becomes the big brother and dishes out things. The scenario must be different,” he said.

Pakatan Harapan’s possible collaboration with Umno has been much talked about in recent weeks, after the Malay nationalist party, at its annual general assembly, voted to end ties with Bersatu and mandate the leadership to withdraw from the Perikatan Nasional government at any time if the general election is not called soon.

Recently, Johor Umno deputy chief Nur Jazlan Mohamed said Umno is receptive to the idea of forming a post-election alliance with any party, including arch-rivals PKR and DAP.

Umno election director Tajuddin Abdul Rahman also said that Umno is open to working with any party or coalition to form a government after the elections.

Asked if a possible PKR-DAP-Umno collaboration could be on the cards after GE15, Ramasamy said that anything is possible in politics.

“These are all possibilities and I don’t rule them out. In politics, you do not rule out these things.”

Another condition, Ramasamy said, is that DAP must not work with Umno leaders who have been charged with corruption. Collaboration can only be considered for those with a clean slate.

“I do not think DAP will be working with tainted personalities, like people who are charged and convicted of corruption, such as Najib Razak.

“But those who are clean, it is possible,” he said, adding that those charged still have to complete their trials.

DAP’s organising secretary and Seremban MP Anthony Loke said recently said it was highly unlikely Umno and DAP could forge any partnership in the next general election.

He said DAP and Umno have been attacking each other for decades and it will be a very difficult process to work together.

Yet, Loke also admitted that political parties realise that none of them can form the government alone. – April 18, 2021.