GE13: DAP — vocal but can it deliver?

DAP is clearly going after MCA by sending candidates to Chinese-majority areas all over. Granted that Chinese voters may have a say in things, but they cannot influence policies on their own.
DAP adviser Lim Kit Siang entering the fray in Gelang Patah has sucked in the party's young and bright politicians into Johor to either make it its frontline state or a graveyard for them.
Lim is taking on ruling party veteran Datuk Abdul Ghani Othman in a risky battle after MCA “loaned” Gelang Patah to Umno. Barisan Nasional felt the mentri besar was the best choice to take on the DAP stalwart.
After it was made official that the two towering figures would be battling in Gelang Patah, DAP ordered party strategist and former Bukit Bendera MP Liew Chin Tiong to contest Kluang against MCA MP Hou Kok Chung.
At the same time, Serdang MP Teo Nie Ching has been moved to Kulai to take on MCA's Tay Chin Hei, a teacher-turned-businessman.
Tay is also the special affairs officer to Ghani and Kulai MCA division deputy chief.
In Labis, DAP is toying with the idea of fielding “superman” Hew Kuan Yau, whose penchant is the use of abusive language, and abandoning former senator S. Ramakrishnan, who had been working the ground of the parliamentary constituency since 2011.
DAP is clearly going after MCA and, to a lesser extent, Gerakan, not only in Johor but all over the country.
DAP's main supporters are the Chinese voters, who form the majority of the electorate in about 40 parliamentary seats. On its own, DAP cannot form the government but together with allies PKR and PAS, their alliance could win big.
Together, they hope to make it to Putrajaya but there is no indication this would be the case.
In the majority, the Malay and Indian voters are in favour of continuity and stability.
They are not in the mood to change horses, unlike voters bent on punishing MCA simply because they perceive it to be subservient to Umno.
Going by the huge crowds at those functions attended by the Prime Minister, it seems clear that Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak has successfully wrapped up the majority of the Malay votes and a substantial portion of the alienated Indian voters.
Although some Barisan seats are anticipated to be lost in Sabah and Sarawak, Najib, in the main, has also won over the east Malaysian voters to the extent that he confidently got the royal assent to dissolve Parliament on April 3.
Chinese voters, who form about 25% of the 13.3 million voters, may have a say in the seats where they make the majority but they cannot influence policies on their own.
The Sarawak election in April last year is a good barometer of how the general election is likely to shape up.
Chinese voters in the state overwhelmingly supported DAP, while the rest of Sarawak Malay, Melanau and Dayak largely voted to keep Barisan in power.
DAP fought in 15 state seats and won 12, a commendable performance, but the winners now sit in the opposition bench while the government purse is controlled by the Malay/Melanau/Dayak caucus.
SUPP, the Chinese-based party that took the biggest hit in Sarawak, is like MCA in the peninsula.
MCA has said it will stay out of government if it wins fewer than the 15 parliamentary seats it held before Parliament was dissolved.
If this happens, the Chinese community, who are heavily reliant on business and therefore dependent on friendly government decision and patronage, would definitely lose out.
They won't have a voice when important decisions that impact their lives are made.
DAP, by dominating the opposition bench, can raise a ruckus but can't deliver the goods.
Lim and his team in Johor are political nomads and like the proverb “a rolling stone gathers no moss”, people who always move and with no roots in one place avoid responsibilities.
The political development in Sarawak, therefore, poses a serious paradox for the larger and economically vibrant Chinese community here.
While all communities Malays, Chinese and Indians voted to make the 2008 tsunami possible, five years on the national mood has decidedly changed in Barisan's favour.
The political reality today is that while the Malays are with Umno and Indian voters are gradually returning to MIC, the Chinese voters are holding out.
Unlike the Malays and Indians who are happy with the transformative government of Najib, Chinese voters want all that ... and more.
They want equality, meritocracy, justice and the rule of law.
These ideals have continuously moved the Chinese and are reasons why they are willing to back DAP, despite its alliance with the Islamist PAS and the scandal-plagued PKR.