Is DAP ready to give seats to MCA, MIC come GE16?
DAP has expressed its openness for Pakatan Harapan to work with Barisan Nasional for the next general election (GE16) which is expected to take place in November 2027 - three years from now.
Back in January, the party’s secretary-general Anthony Loke expressed hope that the partnership between both parties in the unity government will extend beyond GE16. Six months later, he welcomed BN chairman Ahmad Zahid Hamidi’s willingness to collaborate with PH to strengthen the unity government in facing the next general election.
Last month, Loke’s deputy - Liew Chin Tong - said following BN’s landslide victory in the Mahkota by-election that the election success showed that the partnership of both coalitions is the “winning formula” for GE16, citing the PH-to-BN vote transferability seen in the election results.
At this point, it is safe to say that the DAP’s top leadership seems to be convinced that the BN-PH partnership for GE16 is the way forward unless something happens between now and 2027 which might change their minds.
Election partnership between two or more political parties is not an easy matter as it would involve a lot of tense seat allocation talks, which if goes wrong, could lead to internal sabotage and cancellation of the partnership.
Some parties - especially the strong ones with a lot of seats - will be asked to give up a handful of seats for their weak partners in the spirit of partnership.
In the case of BN and PH, UMNO would likely ask for seats that are controlled by Perikatan Nasional and would probably ask for Malay-majority seats that were won by PH. It might even ask for some PH-controlled Malay-majority seats as well.
As for MCA and MIC (should they eventually warm up to working with PH), they might ask for DAP to give up some of its 40 seats to them.
DAP may have to brace for the fact that both parties might not be content with sticking to the only three seats that they held collectively (Ayer Hitam, Tanjung Piai, Tapah) and would ask for more.
Maybe MCA would ask for Kluang seat in Johor or Raub in Pahang. As for MIC, maybe it would ask for Batu Kawan seat in Penang or Batu Gajah in Perak.
This is where I have to ask this question to DAP: Is the party ready to give up some of its seats to both MCA and MIC?
Would DAP be able to get the buy-ins from its MPs and grassroots in seats targeted by both BN component parties? What if the MPs and the grassroots oppose the move and threaten to boycott the parties or mount independent challenges?
I can assure readers that if I were to interview voters in DAP strongholds in my home state Penang now, and ask them whether they would be okay with voting for MCA and MIC should these parties get those seats come GE16 - they would soundly reject both MCA and MIC contesting in these seats.
Also, let us not forget that MCA and MIC abstained from contesting in last year's state elections as seat negotiations with PH fell flat. Both parties asked for seats in Penang, with one MIC leader telling me (when I was working for Free Malaysia Today) that the party was eyeing Perai or Seri Delima.
If DAP could not give up state seats to MCA and MIC then, how can the party be expected to give up its parliamentary seats?
This is why I say that it is not easy for DAP to simply give the green light for the BN-PH partnership proposal for GE16 and not make compromises when the time comes for the party to make the tough call.
And I believe that deep down, Loke and his colleagues know this.
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