It is not in the nature of politics that the best men should be elected. The best men do not want to govern their fellow men.
– George MacDonald, Scottish poet
WHEN MCA and MIC recently announced that they would be sitting out the coming six state elections in Malaya, it did not reflect well for the future of the two parties.
Once senior partners in the ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition government, the two parties had it so good as they could rightly claim to represent the Chinese and Indian communities respectively when they were in power.
In the past, MCA and MIC could stake their claim in constituencies with either a majority or sizable number of Chinese or Indian voters. These seats were theirs for the taking with the tacit consent of Umno, their big brother in BN.
Today, the story is so different for the two BN components. MCA and MIC have no role in the unity government of Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim except as cheerleaders on the sidelines.
Even Umno has been reduced to a junior partner in the government today. However, Umno has a better deal. At least, its president Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi is the deputy prime minister 1 in the cabinet.
MCA and MIC had separately announced on July 5 their decision to sit out the upcoming state polls.
This came after Zahid, who is also BN chairman, has announced that both MCA and MIC would be given winnable seats to contest in the state polls.
MCA vice-president Ti Lian Ker had claimed then that the move was aimed at “easing” racial tensions. So, MCA has decided to be the “good guy” who is prepared to sacrifice for the sake of keeping the peace within the BN family.
But we know later this couldn’t be further from the truth.
Let’s get serious. Which political party worth its salt would not want to take part in elections? In fact, every party would attempt to grab more seats and the ‘safe’ ones if possible.
The truth is out now.
Last Sunday, MIC president Tan Sri SA Vigneswaran revealed that one main reason his party and MCA are skipping the state elections was that they were sidelined in seat negotiations.
He revealed that the formula used, in which incumbent parties get to keep their seats, left few constituencies available for BN to contest.
“Even though they (Umno) said they would give us seats, it was not discussed in negotiations. Because of that, we decided not to contest the state elections,” Vigneswaran told reporters at the MIC headquarters in Kuala Lumpur.
It is probably true that MCA and MIC were snubbed and that it was really difficult to find suitable seats for their candidates to contest.
Two points I wish to stress here. One, the formula where the incumbents stay is only fair. Would MCA be prepared to give up its two parliamentary seats of Ayer Hitam and Tanjung Piai or MIC its sole seat in Tapah in the next general election to other parties. Surely, they would want to re-contest their seats.
So, why should other parties give up their winnable seats for MCA and MIC?
The second point I wish to make is that the two BN components should realise that they are very small and weak today. MCA and MIC are no longer the Number Two and Three partners in the BN coalition. So, they have to stop dreaming.
This is political reality. When you are small, your negotiation power is limited. Even if you are given the crumbs or leftovers, you may just have to accept it.
Netizens have not been too kind to MCA and MIC as evidenced from these recent comments in a national news portal:
“If you are a proven loser, how can you expect others to surrender their seats for you to lose?
“Even at this stage, these MIC and MCA guys have not realised how irrelevant they have become in politics. High time they consider becoming useful and productive citizens.”
And this final one couldn’t be further from the truth.
“For the past 60 years, Malaysian Indians have not seen much progress. Many of them are still stuck in poverty, so what makes you guys think you deserve to represent them again?”
It is unfortunate that since the 2008 election when MCA and MIC first suffered heavy losses, the parties have not been able to reinvent themselves.
It has been 15 years since and the two BN components are still groping in the dark, uncertain of the direction to take.
One thing is almost certain. For the past 15 years, if they could do nothing to uplift themselves, the future can only be bleak for them.
This is because the political dynamics in the country today has evolved to such an extent that parties like MCA and MIC are unable to catch up, becoming redundant and irrelevant in the process.
The views expressed here are those of the columnist and do not necessarily represent the views of New Sarawak Tribune.
