Johor MB On Hafiz Ghazi has declared yesterday that he would rather not be MB than sit at the same table with DAP.
“I would rather not hold the position of menteri besar or sit at the same table with them. This is the spirit of Johor, the Bangsa Johor spirit,” caretaker Johor Menteri Besar Datuk Onn Hafiz Ghazi was quoted as saying.
He made his declaration to indicate that if BN is given the mandate to lead again, it would not, at any time, form a government with DAP.
So far, Tajuddin Rasdi is the first person to come out and call Onn Hafiz’s statement racist.
However, the jury is still out as to whether you can be considered racist just because you are anti-DAP.
I personally think that you can make a convincing argument both for and against the correlation.
BN, the coalition that Onn Hafiz belongs to, includes parties such as MCA and MIC, which are, through and through, Chinese and Indian parties respectively. MIC and MCA has no history of having a negative relationship with Onn Hafiz.
But saying that, it is not MCA and MIC they represent the non-Malays in the Peninsular today. It is DAP that is by far the main party that represents non-Malays, especially the Chinese, in the peninsula, in recent years. That being the case, to argue that being anti-DAP is equivalent to bring anti-non-Malays is also not without merit.
However, one can also make the argument that Onn Hafiz’s nasty comment about DAP specifically targets the party rather than the Chinese or non-Malays.
DAP, after all, has a reputation for grating state leaders.
If you remember, in 2022, before Sarawak would consent to supporting the formation of the unity government, Anthony Loke had to fly to Kuching to publicly apologise to Abang Jo and GPS.
Abang Jo and GPS did not seek apologies from any other party from Semenanjung except DAP.
Neither Onn Hafiz nor Abang Jo are previously known to have racist inclination , but they do seem to have a noticeably anti-DAP slant.
DAP's past kerfuffle with such state leaders like Abang Jo, thus, favours the view that Onn Hafiz might simply be anti-DAP instead of anti-Chinese with his “I would rather resign than cooperate with DAP” statement.
Anyway, how did DAP itself respond to the insult?
Well, in comparison to the vicious put-down that Onn Hafiz delivered against it, DAP’s response can be considered mild.
“You don’t want to sit at the same table with DAP. Great! Carry on with the arrogance,” DAP secretary-general Anthony Loke wrote in a Facebook post.
“Your president sits next to the DAP secretary-general every week (at Cabinet meetings). Just so you know. Thank you,” Anthony also said, while sharing a picture of him seated next to Zahid.
How do I interpret Anthony’s response to Onn Hafiz’s affront?
Well, I interpret it as Anthony Loke still being desirous of the possibility of working together with Johor BN to form the next Johor government, even if Onn Hafiz clearly is not.
I think this is consistent with Anthony’s approach to leading DAP.
There are currently two teams in DAP.
The first team, led by Anthony Loke, believes that “DAP must have the spirit of sacrifice and willingness to swallow bitterness in order to cooperate with other parties, remain in government, and create a better Malaysia.”
The second team believes that “it is better to be a worthy opposition that fights for the rights, interests, and dignity of the Chinese and non-Malays than lose one’s dignity and self-respect by being part of a government that regularly turns its back on the Chinese and non-Malays who support it, in order to appease Malays who are against it.”
Anthony Loke’s restrained response to the harsh affront by Onn Hafiz, although consistent with his stance, is likely going to be taken as being "weak" by DAP members and supporters, which will then only weaken his faction further and strengthen the second team within DAP.
Other than weakening Anthony Loke’s hold in DAP, the spat between Onn Hafiz and Anthony Loke, will also further weaken Anwar’s already weak hold in Putrajaya.
Anwar currently leads a half-absurd government whose component parties fight at the state level but cooperate at the federal level.
Onn Hafiz’s salvo will speed up his administration’s current trajectory from being half absurd to fully absurd.
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