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COMMENT | Politics of threatening to leave - why it almost never happens
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COMMENT | In local politics, few announcements generate more heat than a ruling party declaring it will “let the party decide” whether to stay in government.

It is purely to excite the party grassroots and keeping them trapped or at bay in case they act silly. A special congress. An annual general meeting (AGM). A promise of internal democracy.

For supporters, it signals principle. For critics, it hints at rebellion. For political veterans, it signals something else entirely - controlled drama. Political and theatrical. Insincerity and dishonesty!

When DAP announced a special congress to decide whether to remain in the Madani government, it sounds momentous. Yet this script is not new.

MCA also ran the same play when its president, Wee Ka Siong, declared that the party AGM would decide MCA’s future in BN and the coalition government.

In both cases, the cycle was familiar: intense media hype, emotional grassroots mobilisation, and...


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