DAP performed abysmally in the recently concluded Sabah election.
Before the election, it held eight seats. After the election, it held zero.
DAP, in other words, was totally wiped out in Sabah — not only did it fail to make any gains despite being part of the ruling government, it lost everything it had.
DAP secretary-general Anthony Loke Siew Fook has stepped forward to take full responsibility for the party’s disastrous outing in Sabah, issuing a statement repeating that commitment on Facebook and through the media. As reported by Malay Mail, Loke said:
“As the Secretary-General of the party, I take full responsibility for the shortcomings and the failure of DAP to win any seats in the 17th Sabah State Election.”
“We will take heed of this result and conduct a thorough review of our shortcomings, as well as work towards regaining the support of the rakyat in the upcoming elections.”
Like everybody else, I am also awaiting to see what exactly Anthony Loke means by “taking full responsibility” — because in politics, as in life, responsibility without consequence is nothing more than performance.
What does “taking responsibility” actually mean?
As a rule, taking responsibility for something generally entails suffering. There is a cost. A consequence. A sacrifice.
In ancient Japan, a general who led a disastrous military campaign would often atone by committing ritual suicide — seppuku or hara kiri — as the ultimate form of taking “full responsibility.”
When companies accept responsibility for failures in their products or services, they compensate customers, recall faulty items, and overhaul internal processes. They do so even if it negatively affects their bottom, which to a company, is the most important thing of all.
Even a restaurant that serves a late dish may “take responsibility” by waiving the bill for the entire table.
When you take “full responsiblity” for something, there is always a price paid.
So if Anthony Loke genuinely wishes to take full responsibility for DAP’s catastrophic performance in Sabah, several options lie before him.
1. Step down as secretary-general
This is the most straightforward and traditional route. As the national head of DAP, he does not need to resign over a single state’s disaster. But if resignation was never on the cards, then he should not have used the phrase “full responsibility” in the first place.
He could have instead asked Sabah DAP’s leadership to take responsibility and resign — something party leaders often do after electoral wipeouts. But by claiming responsibility himself, Loke has implicitly elevated the matter above state-level failure, signalling that he may be prepared to shoulder the burden personally.
If no resignation occurs, then the phrase “full responsibility” becomes cheapened — a slogan rather than a standard.
2. Fire or demote DAP’s Sabah campaign strategists and analysts
This election result blindsided almost everyone. Nobody foresaw a complete wipeout. That alone is evidence of profound incompetence among DAP’s strategic brains in Sabah.
Analysts quoted in Sinar Daily were blunt: losing all eight seats was “undeniably embarrassing”, showing that DAP-PH could no longer assume its traditional voter base would remain loyal. Sabah’s Chinese swing against DAP was sharp, calculated, and issue-driven.
If DAP’s strategists failed to detect this collapse, and failed to act on it, they should not be entrusted with designing future campaigns.
Removing or demoting them would be a concrete demonstration of accountability — a step that shows the party is serious about competence, not just loyalty.
3. Explain DAP’s flawed Sabah strategy — and overhaul the approach nationwide
Every campaign is built on assumptions and models. DAP selected its candidates based on certain criteria; it believed those candidates could win. All eight were routed.
This means the assumptions were wrong.
If Anthony Loke wants to “take full responsibility,” he should publicly explain:
- what strategic thinking guided DAP’s Sabah approach,
- why those assumptions were wrong,
- how the candidate selection process failed, and
- what structural reforms DAP will implement to prevent such miscalculations nationwide.
This is the essence of responsibility: you identify the flawed logic that produced failure, and you uproot it — not only in the region that failed, but across the entire party apparatus.
But the only unacceptable option is the “Malaysian way”
There is, however, one form of taking “full responsibility” which is not acceptable — and that is the infamous Malaysian way.
This method works as follows:
- A leader publicly announces, with great gravitas, that they “take full responsibility”.
- No one resigns.
- No one is demoted.
- No one is punished.
- No processes are reviewed.
- No strategies are rethought.
- After a few weeks, everyone moves on as if nothing happened.
- The leader pathetically expects praise for their “honesty” and “integrity” in admitting failure.
This is the accountability equivalent of offering thoughts and prayers after causing a flood.
And it is precisely the type of responsibility-taking Malaysia has been saddled with for decades — a theatre of remorse without any actual cost.
The wipeout was severe — and Sabah’s voters spoke clearly
The scale of DAP’s loss cannot be understated. According to Sinar Daily, it marked the first time since 2004 that DAP has zero representation in the Sabah state assembly. High-profile incumbents like Datuk Chan Foong Hin, Phoong Jin Zhe, Vivian Wong, Jannie Lasimbang and others fell in multi-cornered fights, often by large margins.
Analysts attributed the collapse to:
- dissatisfaction with PH at the national level,
- unhappiness with the GRS-PH alignment,
- Sabah’s sharper focus on autonomy issues such as the 40% revenue formula,
- and a major Chinese swing towards Warisan as a comfortable, secular alternative.
In short: Sabahans rejected DAP.
They did so knowingly, clearly, and decisively. Somehow however, despite the clear and comprehensive rejection of Sabah's voters, DAP never saw it coming, or did not do anything to change the tides, even if it saw it coming.
So now the question remains — what will “full responsibility” look like for Anthony Loke?
Will it be:
- a resignation?
- a purge or restructuring of the Sabah campaign machinery?
- a public reckoning with flawed strategy?
- a rethinking of DAP’s place in Sabah politics?
Or will it be the Malaysian version of accountability theatre — one statement, one Facebook post, and then expect the issue to magically dissolve into the humid air of our political memory?
I hope Anthony Loke — and DAP — are better than that.
But I am not going to hold my breath.
Let us see how the cookies shall crumble..
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