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When DAP Discovers Its Inner Warlord
By Mihar Dias June 2026
For decades, Malaysian politics came with a familiar cast of characters.
There were the idealists who spoke about reform, integrity and principles.
Then there were the warlords.
The latter were usually found in UMNO, guarding divisions like medieval fiefdoms, distributing patronage, deciding careers and occasionally behaving as if party branches were hereditary property passed down from father to son, cousin to nephew and loyalist to loyalist.
DAP supporters spent years mocking this culture.
After all, DAP was supposed to be different.
It was the party of meritocracy, institutional processes and leaders who supposedly emerged through service rather than factional muscle.
Which is why Ong Kian Ming's casual reference to "warlords" in Skudai and Iskandar Puteri is perhaps the most entertaining political revelation of the year. https://newswav.com/A2606_eCWs5L?s=A_XyDXWS6&language=en
Apparently, the warlords have crossed the aisle.
Or perhaps they never really belonged to any one party.
Like migratory birds, they simply follow favourable political climates.
The discovery has all the excitement of finding a durian tree growing apples.
Suddenly, Malaysians are being introduced to the fascinating possibility that local political bosses may exist in a party that once lectured everyone else about local political bosses.
Who knew?
One can almost imagine the conversation.
“Comrade, we don't have warlords.”
“What about that fellow controlling candidate selection?”
“No, no. That's strategic leadership.”
“What about the group lobbying for seats?”
“That's stakeholder engagement.”
“And the loyalists manoeuvring to place friends in constituencies?”
“That's organisational renewal.”
Political science teaches us that every organisation eventually develops centres of power.
Malaysian politics teaches us something even simpler.
Every party hates warlords.
Until it produces its own.
The irony is delicious.
For years, DAP leaders highlighted how UMNO divisions were controlled by powerful local figures who treated seats as personal assets.
Now Malaysians are hearing allegations that certain individuals may have preferred particular candidates for particular seats because, well, politics.
Who could have predicted such a shocking development apart from everyone who has observed political parties for longer than ten minutes?
The Marina Ibrahim episode has inadvertently revealed an uncomfortable truth. https://newswav.com/A2606_eCWs5L?s=A_XyDXWS6&language=en
Political parties do not become immune to human nature simply because they print nicer manifestos.
Safe seats remain attractive.
Influence remains valuable.
Networks remain powerful.
And ambitious politicians remain ambitious.
The uniforms change but the instincts remain remarkably similar.
To be fair, this does not mean DAP has become UMNO.
Neither does it mean the allegations are necessarily true.
But it does suggest that success brings its own complications.
When a party moves from opposition underdog to governing establishment, it acquires something it previously lacked: valuable political real estate.
And wherever valuable political real estate exists, someone eventually wants the keys.
That is how warlords are born.
Not through ideology.
Not through philosophy.
But through the timeless political calculation that a safe seat is better than a dangerous one.
The most amusing aspect is how familiar all this sounds.
A leader moved.
A seat reshuffled.
Supporters unhappy.
Whispers of factional interests.
Offers of appointments after stepping aside.
At this point, one could remove the party logos and many Malaysians would struggle to identify which party was being discussed.
Perhaps that is the ultimate lesson.
Political warlords are not an UMNO invention.
They are a Malaysian political species.
They adapt.
They evolve.
They migrate.
And occasionally they appear in places where nobody expected to find them.
The surprise is not that DAP may have warlords.
The surprise is that anyone still believes political parties are immune from producing them.
Power, after all, is the most effective political fertiliser ever invented.
Plant enough of it anywhere and eventually the warlords will grow.
Mihar Dias (mihardias@gmail.com) is a content creator under the Newswav Creator programme, where you get to express yourself, be a citizen journalist, and at the same time monetize your content & reach millions of users on Newswav. Log in to creator.newswav.com and become a Newswav Creator now!
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