DAP spent decades calling UMNO racist. Now the party, part of the Unity Government, is silent on the very policies it once condemned
Democratic Action Party (DAP) spent years telling non-Malay voters UMNO was racist, from Mahathir’s era to Anwar’s time as Deputy Prime Minister.
Then DAP joined hands with Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad in 2018. Now with Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim at the helm, the party is silent on the very accusations it levelled at UMNO.
Non-Malays should realise Umno was portrayed as the villain, and ask who the real beneficiaries of race politics have been.
How DAP Built The “UMNO Is Racist” Narrative
From the 1980s right through to 2018, DAP’s core campaign message to non-Malay voters was simple.
Umno was racist. Umno practised ketuanan Melayu. Umno entrenched Bumiputera quotas, NEP (New Economic Policy) targets, and Malay-first policies that excluded non-Malays from opportunity.
That accusation was aimed squarely at the Mahathir-Anwar government of 1993 to 1998.
DAP argued that UMNO’s racial policies were the reason non-Malays faced university quotas, limited government contracts, and unequal access to business licences.
The message worked. DAP won overwhelming support from Chinese and Indian voters by presenting Umno as the bogeyman blocking equality.
Every general election, DAP told non-Malays that removing Umno was the only way to dismantle race-based politics.
DAP’s Tone Changed When It Joined Mahathir
Then came 2018. the party entered government as part of Pakatan Harapan (PH) with Mahathir as Prime Minister.
The same Mahathir who, with Anwar as his Deputy and Finance Minister from 1993 to 1998, enforced the peak of NEP quotas, privatisation guidelines, and GLC expansion.
The same Mahathir whose administration DAP had spent 20 years attacking as the source of Malay dominance.
DAP’s tone shifted overnight. The attacks on Mahathir’s racial policies stopped.
Party leaders like Lim Kit Siang who once called the NEP unjust now defended “continuity” and “political stability”.
The party that built its brand on dismantling UMNO’s race policies was now sharing power with the man who designed them.
Non-Malay voters were told to accept it as “the bigger picture”.
Silence Now With Anwar In Charge
Fast forward to 2022. DAP is back in government, this time with Anwar as Prime Minister.
The same Anwar who, as Finance Minister from 1993 to 1997, tabled budgets that maintained the 30% Bumiputera equity target, public university quotas, 7% housing discounts, and Approved Permit allocations.
Budget 1997 allocated RM2.1 billion to MARA and RM1.8 billion to FELDA.
The Universities and University Colleges Act was amended in 1996 under his watch to tighten ministerial control.
These are the very policies DAP condemned for years as racist and discriminatory.
Yet since 2022, DAP has been silent. Budget 2023 and Budget 2024 continued Bumiputera equity guidelines for IPOs.
MARA funding and housing discounts remain. Public university quotas are untouched.
The Securities Commission still enforces the 30% Bumiputera equity rule.
No legislation has been tabled to dismantle a single structural pillar. No parliamentary debate has been pushed by DAP to repeal quotas.
The party that built its political capital by calling Umno racist now governs without changing what it called unjust.
That silence tells non-Malay voters everything they need to know.
Umno As The Bogeyman, But Not The Only Actor
This is where non-Malays must be honest with themselves.
UMNO was portrayed as the sole villain for decades because it was politically convenient.
UMNO, founded in 1946, did defend Malay interests and did drive race-based policy after 1969. That is fact, and it can be debated.
But DAP’s own actions show UMNO was not the only architect.
The peak enforcement period was Mahathir-Anwar, 1993 to 1998.
Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, better known as Pak Lah, from 2003 to 2009 introduced PPSMI (Pengajaran dan Pembelajaran Sains dan Matematik dalam Bahasa Inggeris, or Teaching and Learning of Science and Mathematics in English) and expanded private colleges, giving non-Malay students more options.
Datuk Seri Najib Razak from 2009 to 2018 introduced BR1M cash aid that was race-neutral, increased funding for SJKC and SJKT to RM100 million in Budget 2013, and liberalised 27 services sectors by removing Bumiputera equity rules.
Pak Lah and Najib both expanded Islamic institutions, and JAKIM’s budget grew under Najib from about RM800 million to over RM1 billion. So the Islam agenda continued under Umno.
But economically, UMNO under Pak Lah and Najib also introduced race-neutral programmes that DAP’s partners have not matched.
So Who Is The Real Villain In UMNO?
If we are talking about villains within UMNO, then we must look at leadership, not the party as a whole.
The NEP was designed under Tun Razak in 1971. It was expanded most aggressively under Mahathir from 1981 to 2003.
Anwar, as his Deputy and Finance Minister, administered it.
Those are the names tied to the peak of race-based enforcement.
But UMNO today is not led by Mahathir or Anwar.
The current UMNO leadership under Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi has repeatedly stated support for reviewing race-based policies and moving toward needs-based assistance.
UMNO in the unity government is now the one being pressured by DAP to maintain quotas, while DAP itself says nothing.
The bogeyman narrative falls apart when the party accused of racism is more open to reform than the party that built its brand attacking it.
Consistency Over Slogans
DAP told non-Malays for years that Umno was the obstacle to equality.
Then it joined Mahathir and stayed silent.
Now the party sits with Anwar and stays silent again.
The policies DAP called racist are still in place, but the blame is no longer on Umno.
Non-Malay voters should realise this. UMNO was made the bogeyman because it was politically useful.
The real architects of the system were Mahathir and Anwar.
The real silence today comes from DAP.
If reform is DAP’s goal, then the demand must be placed on the leaders who designed the system and the party that now governs with them.
Malaysians deserve leaders who apply the same standard to everyone.
Not a DAP that changes its principles depending on who holds power.
Only then can we move beyond the bogeyman politics of the past. – NMH
The writer is Vice-President of Parti Cinta Malaysia and a commentator on governance and public policy. The views expressed are his own.
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