ANALYSIS
MIC and MCA have given the Barisan Nasional (BN) supreme council an ultimatum — make sure secretary-general Datuk Seri Nazri Abdul Aziz doesn’t show up on Friday or they will not attend its meeting.
If Nazri is still adamant and attends the meeting, then the validity of the meeting will be called into question.
The question is will he attend the meeting? What happens if he attends?
MCA president Wee Ka Siong and MIC president SA Vigneswaran said in a joint statement yesterday, this is because Nazri was illegitimately appointed to the position.
Is this the beginning of the end for BN? Nazri is a no-nonsense political leader. Will he be easily cowed by such ultimatum and threat?
Barisan Nasional (BN) component parties MCA and MIC have called for an urgent meeting of the coalition’s top leadership to decide on its future.
Is there any future for BN after the dismal performance in the 14th general election (GE14)?
MCA and MIC have for decades been part of the alliance that ruled Malaysia from independence till May 9 last year when BN performed miserably.
BN who has been in power for more than six decades lost to Pakatan Harapan (PH) led by Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad. That was the beginning of this whole episode.
The two component parties yesterday said they no longer believe BN was committed to multi-racialism amid renewed close ties between Umno and PAS.
I believe Umno is just trying to play real politics. In other words, Umno is trying to be realistic about the changing political landscape in the country after GE14.
It is as clear as day light that a Malay party can only survive with strong Malay support in Semenanjung Malaysia.
This is the crux of the whole issue. PH is perceived as not serious about protecting Malay rights.
The existing perception is, the federal government had abandoned the Bumiputera agenda.
Umno, together with its new ally PAS, had repeatedly accused Harapan — especially DAP of working against the Malays and Muslims.
Such political narrative and discourse resonates well with the Malays. Such narrative was used in the two by-elections which partly contributed to BN’s success.
Apart from that, the failure of PH government in fulfilling its promises in the manifesto also contributed to negative perception and it was effectively exploited by BN.
Of course this is bad for PH because the Bumiputeras make the majority in the country.
Therefore, PH has to come up with convincing counter discourse and political narratives, otherwise it is going to face an uphill battle in the next by-election.
Thus, Azmin had urged PH to expedite its plans for the Bumiputeras in view of the coalition’s back-to-back by-election defeats in Cameron Highlands and Semenyih.
But his statement was not well-received by other component parties, particularly DAP.
Azmin is obviously worried that BN is going to score a hat-trick by winning another by-election in Rantau should it doesn’t change its strategies and approach. If that happens, it does not augur well for PH. This is Azmin’s biggest worry.
Deep inside, Azmin realises this. He is entangled in a Catch 22 situation.
If PH is perceived as too Malay-centric, that will offend the non-Malay voters who brought PH to power in GE14. On the other hand, if PH is perceived as leaning too much towards the Chinese and Indians, the Malay voters will get angry.
Economic Affairs Minister Azmin Ali knows the sentiments on the ground. Azmin or PH doesn’t have a better choice, thus the Bumiputera-centric stance. Is this something not familiar?
There was criticism from within Harapan against Azmin’s call for the coalition to fulfill its election promises, especially to the Bumiputeras.
To BN, that was an obvious sign that there is light at the end of the tunnel for the two parties.
To Umno, it’s better to work with PAS because that strategy has proven to be effective in trying to win the hearts and minds of the voters.
Umno and PAS collaborated in Cameron Higlands and Semenyih by-elections, both of which BN won.
To PAS and Umno, Malay voters are important because these are the voters that will determine whether they will win the election, apart from ensuring the survival of the party.
Wee and Vigneswaran said there had been repeated attacks on the foundation of BN, which was “carved by our founders who piloted the coalition to promote political unity, stability and harmony in a multiracial nation”.
Umno and PAS top leaders are going to have a more concrete step towards more formal cooperation between them. In fact, there is even talk about using a common logo.
Under such a situation, it seems that MCA and MIC are left with no choice but to move on to explore a new alliance. Will both parties quit from BN? They have no locus standi to “dismantle” BN.
MIC and MCA have to take a drastic step by quitting BN. Just follow the example of Sarawak’s BN which has formed a new coalition — Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS).
Both parties said yesterday they are “moving on” and exploring a new alliance. Yes, why not because as the saying goes, every cloud has a silver lining.
Associate Professor Dr Jeniri Amir is a lecturer and political analyst at Universiti Malaysia Sarawak.
