Are the days numbered for political alliance between UMNO and DAP?

Focus Malaysia:

Are the days numbered for political alliance between UMNO and DAP?

By Prof Ramasamy Palanisamy

UMNO should not play hide and seek with the Malays. It might have embraced DAP politically by being in the Pakatan Harapan (PH)-led coalition.




However, from the beginning the relationship between UMNO and the DAP has never been smooth.




UMNO might have entered an alliance with the DAP for political expediency but the costs of such an expediency could not be avoided. Both political parties were sworn enemies for decades before the emergence of the present political marriage of convenience.




UMNO was once the dominant party of the Malays with Malay support garnered in opposition to the non-Malays in general and DAP in particular. Over the years, it was this political enmity that conditioned the mindset of the Malays.




While UMNO leaders might have accepted the necessary of political alliance, such is not the case with ordinary Malays, especially the party’s grassroots members. To date, UMNO leaders have not been able to explain why the need to cooperate with the DAP.




It just not the historical enmity but how the present alliance between both the political parties translates into the lack of support for UMNO among the Malays.




In the recent by-elections, UMNO was exposed as a party without the support of the Malays. In a more specific sense, it was the political relationship with DAP that was the reason why UMNO cannot resurrect itself as the dominant Malay political party.

Parting ways


This explains why Umno did not prefer the DAP showing up during the Nenggiri by-election in support of the PH-led coalition.




The lifting of the ban of the comic book by former DAP member Hew Kuan Yau a.k.a. Superman Hew has not gone well with UMNO leaders. There have been calls to review the lifting of the ban.




UMNO further decided not to invite leaders of fraternal political parties to attend its General Assembly 2024 slated to be held at the World Trade Centre Kuala Lumpur from for Aug 21 to 24,




The target was DAP but UMNO made the move palatable by not inviting all leaders of the unity government.

What all these latest developments show is that there is no feeling of camaraderie between UMNO and the DAP. While UMNO takes the aggressive role to distance itself from DAP, the latter prefers to be a silent partner in the ruling government.




DAP leaders are prepared to put up with insults and humiliation ostensibly on grounds of national unity.




They are seemingly comfortable with their present political positions and financial rewards that go with them. They are behaving just the way MCA and MIC leaders behaved under the Barisan Nasional (BN) administration.




I really don’t know what is the breaking point for DAP to severe its relationship with UMNO. The writing is already on the wall; the days are numbered for the two parties to remain together.




It is in this context that the possibility of political alliance between the present ruling government (with or without DAP) and PAS or the Perikatan Nasional (PN) coalition cannot be ruled out. – Aug 15, 2024





Former DAP stalwart and Penang chief minister II Prof Ramasamy Palanisamy is chairman of the United Rights of Malaysian Party (Urimai) interim council.