WITH ANWAR ALREADY PAST THE RUBICON - IT'S MAKE OR BREAK TIME FOR DAP - WILL THEY DARE VOTE EN BLOC AGAINST OPPRESSIVE PACKAGE OF CITIZENSHIP LAW AMENDMENTS - OR PUT UP A SHOW TO APPEASE BOTH SUPPORTERS & BOSS ANWAR?

Written by Stan Lee, Politics Now!

KUALA LUMPUR (Politics Now!) - Ineffective, insincere and incompetent! These are now the three 'I' s that describe Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim's leadership as prime minister. But with Anwar already more than halfway down the rubbish bin, the acid test for survival is now on DAP - will their MPs have the guts to 'decouple' - i.e. revolt against shock proposed amendments to the country's already oppressive citizenship laws.

How they stand up to Anwar will be closely watched by their electorate. Will a 'show' of opposition be put up with just a handful of DAP MPs voting 'according to conscience' - while the rest bow meekly and toe Anwar's increasing unrecognizable line, so as not to rock the boat and they can all continue to hold on to their cushy ministerial posts?

"The DAP must reject the amendments en-bloc if Anwar and his Home Minister refuse to remove the contentious or negative amendments that have been slyly included and make the entire package one of the most repressive ever," a political analyst told Politics Now!

"Every single DAP MP must stand up and shout no! Otherwise, it's just another Umno-BN 'sandiwara' or drama, with DAP the new MCA - and we all know where MCA ended up!"

BEWARE NOT ONLY OF UMNO, BEWARE ALSO OF ANWAR!

Once the cradle of Chinese support, the MCA lost all favor after decades of refusing to stand up to BN boss Umno's perceived racial bullying

The DAP has long been Anwar's strongest ally, controlling the most seats in Parliament within their Pakatan Harapan coalition and is the second most influential party in the country after the Muslims-only Pas party.

Yet till now Saifuddin Nasution, the Home Minister and Anwar's most trusted lieutenant in their PKR party, has not officially presented the proposed amendments even though he is due to table it this month. However, based on the leaks to the press, the criticisms from civil society, children and human rights activists are becoming so hot they can no longer be ignored by DAP.

Neither should the DAP ignore what is now the common belief amongst the non-Malays, who form the bulk of their own electorate, that Anwar no longer represents the interests of an inclusive Malaysia. More than ever, the DAP must be careful who they sleep with or forever lose the trust of their electorate.

"Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s stock among his legion of non-Malay supportershas fallen precipitously in recent weeks," political writer Terence Netto warned in a letter to the media. 

"There are no objective measures of this drop; it can be inferred from the conversation in coffee shops and salons.

"There the embarrassed ones are those who put up a defence, invariably weak, of the prime minister’s performance, citing extenuating circumstances, whereas those who criticize Anwar suggest they have moved from long forbearance to open disdain."

SPECIAL DAP MEETING TONIGHT

DAP stalwarts with Anwar - but that was another time, another era when Anwar was just 'saudara' and not yet 'PMX'

According to DAP's Kepong MP Lim Lip Eng, the party will meet tonight (Nov 6), specially to discuss the proposed amendments.

“I want to know the true intention of the amendments," Lim was reported as telling Malaysiakini.

“Maybe they (the Home Ministry and minister) have their own reasons for doing that. I have to understand more before I can comment."

Another senior DAP MP Teresa Kok admitted there was division within Anwar's ranks over the controversial proposals.

“It is true, the government MPs are uncomfortable with the proposed amendments,” said Teresa.

SLY MOVES TO MIX THE BAD WITH THE GOOD

As Law minister, Umno's Azalina would surely be aware of the 'mixed-bag' amendments

So far, Saifuddin has been highlighting only the 'positive' aspects of the package - with the main one being the long-awaited amendment to allow Malaysian mothers married to foreign spouses the right to pass on citizenship to their children born overseas.

The Home Ministry's refusal to separate the amendments into two bills as pleaded by civil society, rights and legal groups has sparked tremendous suspicion that Anwar may be pandering to ally Umno, known for its Malay supremacy policies, and trying to jump on the race championing bandwagon himself to win favor with the Malays, who are the country's largest bloc of voters.

"The amendments should be separated into two bills - the first to allow Malaysian mothers to confer citizenship on overseas-born children and the second for the remaining, more controversial amendments," an expert Maha Balakrishnan had told the New Naratif.

INSINCERE POLITICS

Anwar and Home Minister Saifuddin Nasution, who is also PKR secretary-general

Indeed, the 5 most contentious amendments does appear aimed at controlling the type of electorate the government may deem as favorable to their own long-term survival in power. 

Some of the amendments particularly target the populace in Sabah, where Umno has lost visible ground as Sabahans become more conscious of their own rights and the self-determination of their own society.

Then there are the amendments that appear to be born from pure mean-spiritedness, with zero nobility of purpose, such as refusing abandoned children or foundlings citizenship by operation of law. 

Another seeks to make it even tougher than it already is for foreign wives of Malaysian men to get citizenship.

"Currently, the time taken to process citizenship applications is fraught with bureaucratic delays, and one application cycle can take up to or longer than five years before it is typically rejected (without grounds), and the applicant must resubmit the application," the Malaysian Citizenship Rights Alliance (MCRA) has said.

"The amendment will have the effect of shortening the time available for process and appeals, shutting the path to citizenship," the MRCA added.

MAKE OR BREAK POINT FOR DAP - AS ANWAR DESTROYS TRUST IN HARAPAN

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To get the proposals passed, Anwar will need the support of two-thirds of Parliament's 222 MPs as it involves amending the Federal Constitution. 

With the 'de-facto defections' of two MPs from the PN opposition - Kuala Kangsar MP Iskandar Dzulkarnain and Labuan's Suhaili Abdul Rahman who have declared support for the government - Anwar has on paper the support of 149 MPs.

But even without DAP's 42 MPs, it's still possible for Anwar to ram through the bill if he gets the backing of PN-Pas, who too might want to display their Malay 'credentials' and unite with Anwar and Umno to 'defeat' the multiracial DAP.

 "Yes, on this proposal, PN's Bersatu and Pas parties might go with Anwar. But anything more after this, for example another all-Malay political alliance will not be possible as they will be fighting for posts and power over each other," the analyst told Politics Now!

"Whatever it, this is one make-or-break issue DAP must decide with a principled stance or get scorned and lose trust like Anwar has. And they better don't try to dupe the people by putting on some stupid drama or excuse, nobody will buy it anymore!"

Written by Stan Lee, Politics Now!

Politics Now!