‘DAP IS PAKATAN’S TOP DOG’
It is using Dr M as it needs a new Malay frontman, says PM’s press secretary
DAP has chosen to form a new alliance with Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad as the party needs a new Malay figure as a frontman now that Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s influence on Pakatan Harapan is waning.
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s press secretary Datuk Seri Tengku Sariffuddin Tengku Ahmad in a statement yesterday said DAP and party supremo Lim Kit Siang know that Malays would not support them outright.
“But instead of having faith in their existing partners, like Wan Azizah (Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail) in PKR or Mat Sabu (Mohamad Sabu) at PAN (Parti Amanah Negara), they chose to form a new alliance with Dr Mahathir, knowing well that he would not contest in the 14th General Election (GE14) and that his party has only one seat in Parliament.
“DAP’s decision to endorse Dr Mahathir to lead Pakatan is an insult to PKR and PAN.
“DAP and Lim attribute this decision to the experience and gravitas of Dr Mahathir.
“But this is hypocritical since the opposition parties launched the Reformasi movement expressly against Dr Mahathir.
“So, Lim is using his old nemesis and jailer to lead DAP’s charge into the Malay heartlands.
“This is why they are letting Dr Mahathir do all the policy talking.
“The main aim of DAP is to win over Malay voters. For Lim personally, the alliance with Dr Mahathir is meant to erase his image as anti-Malay and anti-Islam. But what Lim fails to understand is that the Malays can sense they are being used by DAP,” he said in the statement titled “DAP is the real top dog in Pakatan”.
Tengku Sariffuddin said it was clear that DAP was the ‘top dog’ in Pakatan Harapan, with Lim as the de facto leader cleverly pulling the strings and dictating Pakatan Harapan’s narrative and appearance.
He said it was an “Ali Baba strategy” where the frontman was Malay, but the real power broker was behind the scenes.
“However, Malays today are beginning to detest this dirty tactic as it insults their intelligence. Why are DAP and Lim playing this trick?
“Because now that Anwar’s influence on Pakatan is waning, they need a new Malay figure at the front to ‘camouflage’ them,” he said, noting that it was no secret that a vote for Pakatan is a vote for DAP, not PKR, PAN or Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia. DAP is the real power behind the opposition.
“However, DAP is now in a state of panic as they have realised that the Malays are aware of what is going on, and that the real puppetmaster is Lim.”