This article first appeared in The Edge Malaysia Weekly on September 11, 2023 - September 17, 2023

IT would appear that defeatism does not exist in DAP secretary-general Anthony Loke Siew Fook’s playbook.

Not when the results of the 15th general election (GE15) and the recent six state elections (PRN15) showed that Malay voters were still largely averse to the multiracial but Chinese-dominated party. And not now, when there are questions even among members and supporters on the party’s stance of working with Umno, following the public prosecutor’s withdrawal of all 47 charges against its president Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi. This resulted in the court granting the deputy prime minister a discharge not amounting to an acquittal (DNAA) on Sept 4.

In fact, Loke proceeded with the interview with The Edge the following day, but not before issuing a statement on the matter the night before. The four-term member of parliament acknowledged the unhappiness within the party and of its supporters but said, “We have to ask ourselves. Do we walk out from the government? Is it an option? I don’t have the answer to that. It is a question to our members also, not just to the public.”

For Loke, working with Zahid-led Umno is the consequence of the GE15 outcome. The alternative is instability, which would open the door for Perikatan Nasional (PN) to form the federal government.

“If we do not work with BN (Barisan Nasional), then can somebody tell me what is the option? The other option is that we work with PN, and at that point in time, they took the position to not work with us,” he says.

For now, Loke says the unity government’s priority for the next four years is economic growth that benefits all levels of society, or it will face a challenging time at the next GE. As long as DAP is part of the government and while he remains the Minister of Transport, he will make sure that every day is spent meeting set missions, whether small or large, to ensure that the government delivers on its promises to the people, he adds.

“Every day that I am in government, I will do my level best to make this government work and will not do anything to destabilise the government, because that is very disruptive,” he vows.

And unless the party decides that working with Umno or remaining in the unity government is no longer in its best interests nor for the people, he will not give up.

The following are excerpts from the interview.

The Edge: Many Malays and some Chinese are upset that Pakatan Harapan (PH) is working with Umno, and because of that, I think they actually voted against PH in PRN15, and this was reflected in the outcome. What do you have to say about this?

Loke: First of all, working with Umno-BN is the consequence of the outcome of the last general election. For the simple reason that if we don’t work together, then what is the alternative? The alternative is that you will have an unstable situation, where no single party has the majority. And if we do not work with them, are we saying that we want to push them to work with Perikatan Nasional? So, that is our answer to our supporters.

But it seems that the consequence of that decision is PH losing Malay votes.

That is the challenge we have to face, the entire government has to face — we must regain Malay support. How? Number one, we must improve the economy, because of the Malays’ votes against the government, partly because of identity politics, because of the sentiment played by PN. But I also think partly because of the economic well-being and situation of the larger population. This is something we must acknowledge and do our level best to expand the economy, and at the same time, increase the household income of the larger population, especially the Malay community. I know it is a real issue, that a lot of urban Malays are feeling the pinch. Not only urban Malays, the urban population, including other races. But of course, the Malays are feeling even more insecure in this environment.

By improving the economic situation, we hope that we can convince Malaysians, particularly the Malay community, to support this unity government in the next election. Right now, we have breathing space for about four years. After the state elections, hopefully it stabilises the political situation and the line is very clearly drawn — you know how many states are with the government, how many states are with the opposition, and you know the position in parliament.

So, for the next four years, our mission is to improve the economy. If the economic situation does not improve, then we will face a very strong challenge in the next general election. We are very clear about that. It is not merely economic growth, but growth that leads to a better livelihood for the rakyat, for the majority, and for everyone. If you only have economic growth, which was the case during the past regime, where you have growth but the people don’t feel it, then you will end up losing the support of the population.

This is the approach of the current government, looking at how to improve livelihoods, in all aspects. In education, housing and transport, you must make people feel they are living in a better environment.

Another way to look at it, PH working with BN, especially Zahid-led Umno, not only do you not gain PN supporters but you also lose PH supporters. Is this something of a concern to you as secretary-general of DAP?

If you look at the results, as far as DAP is concerned, we are not losing our supporters. We won every single seat we contested except one — in Kedah. We retained all of our seats in Selangor, Penang and Negeri Sembilan. So, on that score, as far as DAP is concerned, we are not losing our supporters by working with Umno-BN. And I think by and large, our supporters understand why we have to work with BN. As far as DAP is concerned, and I cannot speak on behalf of other parties, our supporters understand the need for us to have a stable government, to have this unity government, reflecting the multiracial, multireligious and multicultural [make-up of] this country.

But having said that, the most important part of all is that the government must deliver. If the government cannot deliver, then of course people will feel disappointed, and this will push away our voters. So, everything is about delivery. I told all DAP ministers, deputy ministers and members of parliament, and I think everyone in the government understands this, that the key for us right now is to deliver. Deliver better governance, and it must be reflected and felt by the people in every aspect of their lives.

If you look at the PH coalition, some actually see that by having DAP in the coalition, it actually makes it more difficult to gain support in the Malay heartland. As secretary-general of DAP, what do you have to say about this, to change the perception of the Malays?

We will have to continue our moderate approach to change their perception. Do we take a defeatist approach, just because people have a negative perception of us, we give up? We don’t want to be a part of the government? I never took that as an option. If you want to take the easy way out, okay, never mind, we accept the fate that we will never be suitable in the government. Then we take it as a defeatist spirit, that we are content to just be in the opposition. As a political party, we will never take such a stand. We want to prove that we are worthy to be in government.

We know that the challenge is more perception than anything. Why the Malays are afraid of DAP is all about perception. Are we a real threat to the Malays? The answer is no! But all these are engineered perceptions over the years, historical baggage, coming now when we are in government. DAP had never been in the federal government before 2018. So, when we are in the government at the federal level, to many Malays in the country, there are fears that their positions are threatened.

We accept this is happening on the ground. Do we then say, okay we accept this and we do nothing? No. We have to change their perception. The way to change their perception is not overnight. The way to change perception is by having continuous efforts to deliver, to perform well. That’s why we take certain steps to allay their fears. Number one, DAP has been very accommodative in this government. We never asked for a proportional number of cabinet members. We accepted that we were only given four seats in the cabinet.

Day one, when we were sworn in, I held a press conference and I said we accepted the decision of the prime minister. We know that certain quarters are playing on sentiments that DAP is dominant in the government, so we take a step back. We never demanded the Minister of Finance post. Even though we were given the portfolio in 2018, we never demanded the position after GE15. Whatever portfolio is given to us, we will work to the best of our ability. Whatever responsibilities given to us, we must do our best, we must deliver. I hope that the larger population, including the Malay community, over time can evaluate us not based on our skin colour, not based on our political background, but based on our performance. That is my hope. And we know it is not easy, but we must keep the faith. The only way to change perception is delivery and performance.

DAP is part of PH, and you were given four ministries. With those portfolios, how do you show the Malay population that DAP can deliver, because it is just certain ministries, and in terms of parliamentary seats, you will never win 80 or 90 seats because of the seat allocations. So, how do you convince the Malays?

Well, number one, all our members of parliament and state assemblymen must reach out to the grassroots, to the various communities. This has been ongoing for many years. It is now almost like a standard practice of all DAP elected representatives. They must do programmes to reach out to the Malay community during Ramadan. Probably this was not the case previously, but now it is almost like a must every year. The result is that, over time, people on the ground will feel it. I want to impress on you that I won 40% of the Malay support in my [state] constituency in Chennah. I even won the Orang Asli votes in the recent state elections. That is the testament that people can change, if you show sincerity.

All these are not easy at the national level. But as I said, what matters is that we show it at our constituency level, we show it through our respective ministries, whatever we do at the ministry level, we must show that we are for all Malaysians. When I helm the transport ministry, all my initiatives are not only for certain segments of society, but for everyone. For example, nobody ever thought of giving school children in Kelantan free train services. I told KTM (Keretapi Tanah Melayu Bhd), we might as well absorb [the cost] and we save on other expenditure, and we give free train rides for all school-going children on the east coast. There is not a single DAP candidate in Kelantan, no DAP presence in Kelantan, but we do it, because we want to show that we have empathy. And I think that is something that we must be able to show, a different image of DAP.

With regard to the discharge of Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi of all 47 charges of corruption in relation to Yayasan Akalbudi, we are aware that the Attorney-General’s Chambers is an independent body, as well as the court. What do you have to say, especially to DAP supporters, as some see this as what the unity government has to do to stay in power, that is the price to pay.

I do not look at that from that aspect. First, we maintain the principle that the Attorney-General’s Chambers must be independent, there must be no interference. They are free to make their decisions, free from the influence of the executive. That is why I made the statement that they must at least explain the rationale [for the decision] so that the confidence of the public is maintained. An explanation of course is needed in our view. Whether or not he [Tan Sri Idrus Harun, who retired on Sept 6] will make the explanation is beyond my control.

With this decision, yes, of course we have to explain to our grassroots. I acknowledge there is a lot of unhappiness about the decision. I don’t run away from that reality. We cannot avoid the elephant in the room. That is why I came out with a late-night statement, acknowledging there are very critical views, not only among the public, but even among our own people, their unhappiness, their questions. That is why I made the statement to call on the AG to at least explain the rationale. It is not that we are questioning his discretion. He has the discretion, maybe he has the justification for that, but an explanation is necessary to that effect.

But moving on, we have to continue our focus on our work and deliver, and ensure the system works well. If the majority of the members of DAP feel otherwise, they can voice it out. But eventually a decision can only be made collectively. As long as the party decides to remain in the government, we have to make this government work. I have always maintained that position: I want to be part of the solution, and not part of the problem.

Unless somebody told me that DAP should not be in the government, then my role is to work and to make the government function well. I cannot pick a fight with every other component party leader every day. A lot of people make a lot of assumptions that after becoming minister, you are afraid of losing your minister position, you are dumb, your party diam-diam, tak berani cakap and all that. Hey, I have been in opposition for many years also. You want to pick a fight, I can fight anytime. But that is not the reason for me in government. My reason in government is to work and deliver to the public.

When you say you must deliver, are you acknowledging that you could lose the support of your voters four years down the road? And these are voters who voted for you with the anti-corruption narrative. Given Zahid’s DNAA, they must also compromise on this principle …

Politics is something you cannot predict — next year or four years down the road. What is important is whatever tasks are in front of us, we must do it well. We must prepare ourselves. I always say that you can never predict when victory will come, when defeat will come. So, we can’t be worried about what will happen in the next four years, now. What we need to worry about is whether or not we do our work well, whether or not we focus on our role as a government. If we do our level best, eventually the decision is on the public, in the voters’ hands. If they decide to dump us, what can we say?

The only thing that you will regret is the time that you are in government, you wasted your time and opportunity. So I will not waste a single day in government. Every day must be filled by a mission. I want to achieve something, be it big or small. I always take that spirit. I had the experience of lasting only 22 months. So, we do not know how long we will be in this ministry. Even with all of my assistants, they all know that right now, they are all very well prepared. Each day in government is an opportunity to serve, to change something for the better, so we are not worried. 

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