Umno-loving Anthony Loke losing popularity among DAP members?

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 DAP (MCA 2.0) self-destructing under Anthony Loke.

Umno-loving Anthony Loke losing popularity among DAP members?

KUALA LUMPUR, My 7, 2026: DAP secretary-general Anthony Loke Siew Fook appears to be fast losing popularity among his party members.

The Umno-loving Loke, who led DAP to zero seats in the Sabah elections, is now struggling to enhance his image with members and continuously on "political defensive"..

But DAP members are growing wary of the danger to continue to be led by Loke with Malaysians popularly branding him and the party as MCA 2.0.

An opinion has appeared on Facebook (believed to be linked to Khairy Jamaluddin or KJ) claiming that Loke is falling behind former secretary-general Lim Guan Eng:

OPINION | Anthony Loke is Falling Behind, Lim Guan Eng is Making a Comeback

The Chinese have a saying :"Two tigers cannot share the same mountain". It means that two powerful leaders can't both be a part of the same organisation.

The two tigers in DAP are Anthony Loke and Lim Guan Eng.

As long as one does well, the other will inevitably decline.

Anthony Loke, if you recall, only began to truly shine, after Lim Guan Eng's fortune started to dim, after his disastrous showing as the Finance Minister in the Pakatan 1.0 Government of 2018.

As Anthony's star continued to shine, Lim Guan Eng's fortune continued to dim.

In last years DAP election, Lim Guan Eng and his teammates - which include the likes of Teresa Kok, his sister Lim Hui Ying and RSN Rayer, did so badly, that except for Lim Guan Eng himself, the rest of his lieutenants couldn't make it into Central Executive Committee ( CEC). Even the once mighty Lim Guan Eng could only squeeze into the CEC at the 26th place in the 30 member committee.

On the other hand, everyone that was on Team Anthony Loke did splendidly in the election, and consolidated Anthony Loke's growing prestige and power in DAP.

But fortune as they say is fickle. One day it will favour you, and another day, it will favour your rival.

If Anthony Loke had assumed that he has no where to go but up, and Lim Guan Eng had resigned himself to believe that his best days are behind him, well, I would bet one ringgit and thirty five cents that the tides of fortune are about to change.

Soon, I believe, it is going to be Anthony Loke's time to be harassed, while the sun is set to shine again on Lim Guan Eng.

Why?

Because the mood in DAP has changed.

Anthony Loke's fortune shined the brightest after his leadership of DAP brought DAP victory in the 2022 election. Not only did DAP secure a conclusive victory under Anthony's lead, it emerged as the biggest component party of Pakatan Harapan, the coalition that was to become the government after GE 15.

Despite its victory, Pakatan Harapan's grip on power was still weak, for its rival, Perikatan Nasional and its "Green Wave" looked like it was capable of toppling the Pakatan Harapan led unity government at any given moment.

Despite the threat, Anthony Loke, together with Anwar Ibrahim, the head of PH and the Prime Minister of Malaysia, have so successfully consolidated Pakatan's grip on Putrajaya, that today Perikatan Nasional has completely given up on its desire to overthrow the unity government.

Under Anthony's lead, DAP was even able to work together with Umno, its longtime rival, as partners in the unity government.

Anthony's success was not unnoticed in DAP, and DAP members had richly rewarded Anthony, by giving him and his team their full mandate in the 2025 DAP elections, at the cost of removing Lim Guan Eng and his team, from the corridor of power.

Since then however, Anthony Loke's luck seems to be waning.

First DAP was massacred in the Sabah election in December last year.

Following that, to recoup their losses, DAP would throw down the gauntlet by giving Anwar an ultimatum: "Recognize UEC or else ...."

Not only did Anwar not recognize UEC despite DAP's ultimatum, under the National Education Plan 2026-2035, he would even make Bahasa Melayu and History a compulsory subjects for all Malaysian citizens in school, including Chinese Independent schools, much to the chagrin of DAP.

To make things worse, currently Umno is trying to overthrow the Aminuddin Harun led state government in Negeri Sembilan, while remaining as DAP's partner at the federal level.

Although Umno only contributed 26 seats to the unity government, it has been richly rewarded for its willingness to support the unity government with such high profile posts as the Deputy Prime Minister post, Foreign Ministry portfolio, Ministry of International Trade portfolio and Defense portfolio.

In contrast, despite contributing 40 seats - the most of any single party in the unity government - the best that DAP managed to get from the unity government was the transport portfolio, under Anthony.

11 out of the 17 state seats that make up the Aminuddin led PH government in Negeri Sembilan, belong to DAP. If Umno overthrows the Negeri Sembilan state government, it will be DAP, more than PKR, that stands to be the biggest losers.

To understand why Anthony Loke's fortune is fading, we must understand what is the sentiment of DAP's members and supporters today.

The thinking among DAP's members and supporters today goes like this: "We have given so much to the unity government and received so little. Those who have given much less than us, like Umno, on the other hand, have received so much more. Umno, who has received so much more than us, are not even our friends or a friend of PH - they have long been our opponents and even today, after we have given so much to them in concession, they are still not friendly to us. What little we ask - like the humble UEC recognition - is thrown back in our face with contempt. And now, although we have given so much and received so little, what little we have might also be taken away from us by Umno in Negeri Sembilan, because it is still not satisfied with what it has, although it has so much. If we are to continue to accept this treatment, what self respect and dignity can we possibly have?"

The leader that is currently representing the sentiment of DAP today is Lim Guan Eng.

Recently, Lim Guan Eng has condemned Umno and Barisan Nasional (BN) as "untrustworthy partners" in the unity government.

Despite being called a "batu api" by Umno vice president Datuk Seri Wan Rosdy Wan Ismail for his statement, Lim Guan Eng has still not backed down.

In contrast, do you know what Anthony Loke is saying?

Anthony is shifting the onus on the DAP supporters, and asking them to not be emotional or cause trouble.

“I share the same view as Saifuddin Nasution Ismail (the secretary-general of Pakatan Harapan), that as leaders, we cannot act based on emotions. We must act with wisdom.

“What we want today is for the state to remain stable and for the federal government to remain stable. Only when the state government is stable can the federal government also remain stable. Therefore, we must be patient and have a strategy," Anthony said, in response to DAP supporters who are desirous of a more aggressive stance, like dissolving the state assembly and calling for a snap election.

In other words, in the view of DAP supporters, Anthony wishes to shake the hands of those who slapped DAP, while Lim Guan Eng is increasingly positioning himself as someone that DAP can count on to only shake the hands of those who wish to shake its hands - as to those who wish to slap DAP, he will be the leader that they can count on to slap back .

Of the two, it is likely the message by Lim Guan Eng that will resonate with DAP members and supporters today.

Anthony's fortune will shine the brightest when DAP is set to grow in status and prestige as it goes from success to success.

Lim Guan Eng's fortune on the hand, will shine when DAP is in the mood to cut its losses and limit the damage that it has incurred, while moving to preserve its dignity and self respect.

Currently, between going from success to success or cutting its losses, DAP is more likely in the latter phase.

That being the case, Anthony's fortune will start to dim, while Lim Guan Eng's star will start to shine.

IMAGE CREDIT : Utusan Borneo / Malay Mail