MCA says it would leave BN if coalition works with DAP in next general election

KUALA LUMPUR: The Malaysian Chinese Association (MCA), a long-standing component party of the Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition, said it would leave the alliance if BN continues working with the Democratic Action Party (DAP) in the next general election.

The DAP is a component party of Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s Pakatan Harapan (PH) coalition – and together with BN and other parties – forms the unity government. 

At its annual general meeting on Sunday (Dec 7), MCA passed a resolution to quit BN and set its own course should any BN component party work with DAP. 

This comes less than a month after another BN component party – the Malaysian Indian Congress (MIC) – passed a similar resolution to exit the coalition, saying that the partnership no longer provides space for the party to contribute meaningfully to national development. 

BN comprises the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO) as its lead party alongside MCA, MIC and the United Sabah People’s Party. 

“If any BN component (party) cooperates with DAP in any form during the upcoming general election, our party will independently determine a new direction,” said MCA president Wee Ka Siong, as quoted by local news outlet the New Straits Times (NST). 

The party could not work with DAP because of major differences in ideology between the two parties and such cooperation would signal that the “BN spirit has completely vanished”, he added. 

Wee said that MCA’s elected representatives had a responsibility to honour the mandate received under the BN banner, even as questions arose over the party’s future, adding that his party will “at least complete the current term”. 

He also claimed that the unity government had introduced “too many policies that hurt the people”, creating resentment and putting BN at risk, NST reported. 

“If Barisan worries too much about protecting the image of the unity government and fails to strengthen its own organisation, we will eventually be dragged down,” Wee said, citing the proposed Urban Renewal Act which he claimed had failed to adequately protect property rights. 

“Take the Urban Renewal Act for example, its contents violate human rights and fail to protect property rights of ordinary citizens. MCA and BN opposed it from day one, yet the public still blames BN simply because we are part of the unity government,” said Wee, according to a copy of his presidential speech published on MCA’s website. 

The proposed law lays out a legal pathway for the redevelopment or revitalisation of old urban areas and has been criticised for possibly displacing vulnerable residents under the guise of gentrification and forcing minority owners to give up their property rights for redevelopment, reported Malay Mail. 

“MCA’s bottom line is crystal clear – we refuse to work with DAP … if UMNO continues leaning toward partnerships outside BN, especially working with DAP to the point where the BN spirit becomes meaningless, MCA will not sit quietly,” Wee said. 

BARISAN NASIONAL’S “INTERNAL AFFAIRS” 

Meanwhile, DAP secretary-general Anthony Loke said that MCA’s resolution to possibly leave BN is “their own problem” and has declined to comment further when asked by NST. 

Selangor DAP chairman Ng Sze Han similarly said that it is “BN’s internal affairs”. 

An UMNO leader however has accused MCA of looking for an excuse to leave the BN coalition, saying that the party may be fancying its chances at regaining Chinese support on its own following DAP’s wipeout at the recent Sabah state election.

“This is an opportunity for MCA. It wants to compete with DAP and regain the confidence of Chinese voters. That is the only reason why MCA is looking for an excuse to leave BN,” UMNO Supreme Council Member Puad Zarkashi was quoted as saying by Free Malaysia Today. 

Puad also said that UMNO’s stand is “clear enough”, which is to contest under the BN logo while continuing to work with PH in the next general election, which must be held by 2028. 

In July, BN chairman Ahmad Zahid Hamidi had said that the coalition plans to continue its alliance with PH in the upcoming general election despite calls for BN to go solo. 

BN had played a pivotal role in enabling Anwar to form the unity government after the 2022 general election which resulted in a hung parliament. 

PH had won 81 parliamentary seats, including 40 by DAP; while BN won 30, including 26 by UMNO in its worst electoral performance to date. MCA retained the two seats it held previously.

MCA however holds no government positions, with the party’s Members of Parliament serving as “government backbenchers”, said Wee. 

BN governed Malaysia for 61 years until it was toppled from power in the 2018 general election by the opposition led by former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad.

At the annual general meeting on Sunday, Wee also urged Anwar to remove Fadhlina Sidek as the country’s education minister in his upcoming Cabinet shakeup. 

Wee, who was a former deputy education minister, claimed that Fadhlina had proven to be incompetent and should not be at the helm of the ministry, which has been receiving the highest budgetary allocations annually. 

The education ministry has been under the spotlight in the wake of several troubling incidents in schools involving murder, rape and bullying. 

Anwar has said again on Sunday that he will not rush to fill the four vacancies in his Cabinet and will need to discuss the matter with party leaders before making a decision.