MCA candidates slug it out by attacking Umno

MCA candidates slug it out by attacking Umno
25 Aug, 2008
By Leslie Lau, The Malaysian Insider

The battle for leadership of the MCA is turning into a competition among candidates to see who can most vilify the party's political partners of more than five decades, Umno.

But it is a contest fraught with difficulties, for MCA leaders who try to stand up to Umno, perceived as arrogant and racist by many Chinese voters, without actually causing a rift between the two main parties of the ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition.

The MCA conducts crucial party polls in October, amid strong calls for reform following its disastrous performance in the March general elections.

Only 15 MCA MPs were voted in, while the majority of Chinese voters, seemingly angry with Umno, backed the DAP and PKR.

On Sunday, Chinese daily Nanyang Siangpau quoted Datuk Ong Tee Keat, the candidate for party president endorsed by the current leadership, as saying that MCA may have to pull out of the BN coalition if Umno continues its "Ketuanan Melayu" policies.

"If Umno continues its Ketuanan Melayu, and does not reform, other BN members including MCA may pull out.

"And if we pull out we will no longer champion only one race. We will have to become multi-racial," he told party members on a visit to Pahang on Saturday.

Ong's statement appeared to be a reaction to former vice-president Datuk Dr Chua Soi Lek's statement last week which called for MCA to review its "Master-Servant" relationship with Umno.

The former Health Minister said that the MCA and other component party members must have a more equal partnership in the coalition.

Chua, despite facing moral issues over a sex DVD which surfaced late last year and derailed his career, is seen as a leading candidate expected to take on Ong for the party presidency.

The two leaders have been engaged in a war of words in recent weeks as the campaign for party polls heats up.

But little of what the two say is being reported by the Malay or English language press, because of the sensitivities of race relations as a major campaign issue.

"This does not bode well for the future of MCA. The Chinese want MCA to become more vocal and to stand up to Umno, but the MCA is unable to do so directly without affecting the BN as a viable coalition.

"Even if the MCA were to pull out of BN, where would it stand because the Chinese are now backing PKR and DAP which are both multi-racial parties," a senior MCA central committee member told The Malaysian Insider.

The MCA is not the only party reconsidering its role in the BN coalition. There have been sporadic calls from its grassroots for Gerakan to also pull out of BN.