Soi Lek: Bad for PAS to dominate Pakatan but good for Umno to be MCA's big brother

Pakatan Rakyat leaders slammed MCA president Chua Soi Lek for "telling lies without blinking an eye" for insisting that PAS was the dominating party in the Pakatan coalition and the Chinese should therefore stick to voting for the Umno-led BN coalition as PAS was an Islamist party.

"This is MCA has gone downhill. They have an unprincipled leader who tells bare-faced lies, is a racist and religious bigot to boot. Soi Lek's comments are actually also an insult to Islam. For most Malaysians, we are taught from young to respect all religions but so far, only people like Mahathir Mohamad, Ibrahim Ali and Chua Soi Lek go around saying this religion is superior, the other is extreme. How can such people be fit to lead the country," PKR vice president Chua Jui Meng told Malaysia Chronicle.

"It is also very obvious Soi Lek fears the DAP and PKR. Just like Najib fears Anwar. That's why the pressure to create Sodomy II and all sorts of accusations to bring him down, Soi Lek is afraid the Chinese will vote DAP and PKR. But I can tell him now, the Chinese would prefer to vote PAS rather than MCA, that's for sure."

Learn to respect all religions, boorish Soi Lek told

Jui Meng was referring to an interview Soi Lek gave to the Malaysian Insider. The MCA president raised the spectre of Islamist rule, saying that the Chinese community has begun falling back into Barisan Nasional’s (BN) fold as they are now aware that “empowering DAP is paving the road for PAS”.

“It is PAS that is going to be the dominant party. It is PAS that is going to call the shots, it is PAS that will rule the day if they (the opposition) come to power. If they come to power, it is PAS that will rule,” Soi Lek said.

But though Soi Lek confidently stated this as fact, denying that this was merely the tune the party plans to sing to woo the Chinese vote during the coming general election, he could not tell why this was so horrifying when domineering the BN was the corruption-tainted Umno.

"The Umno-BN media used to poke fire with us by saying was the junior partner in Pakatan because we won the least seats. They said we were jealous and tried to create ill-feeling between us. Even when there wasn't they insisted there was. But Soi Lek is the president of the MCA and not a reporter. He should respect his own party more and speak with greater responsibility. The way he is talking now, nobody will respect MCA," PAS MP for Kuala Krai Hatta Ramli told Malaysia Chronicle.

Seeing only what he wants to see, ignoring the rest

But completely oblivious, Soi Lek warned that PAS’s “day of glory” was fast approaching and scoffed at any possibility that PKR would be the more dominant party in Pakatan Rakyat (PR).

“I wouldn’t say this is a tune. Saying this is a tune that we are singing means we are spinning. This is what the Chinese are aware of — that a vote for DAP is empowerment for DAP, strengthening DAP, (and) paving the road for PAS, which may ultimately be even at the central level,” he said.

PKR, he said, could not match its Islamist partner in terms of organisation, party discipline and most importantly, member loyalty, leaving the party to be the weakest of the three in PR. The former Health Minister said despite PKR’s confidence in leading the opposition pact’s march to Putrajaya, the party had faced the largest number of defections from key leaders.

“PKR is probably the only party in the world who is so confident of marching to Putrajaya, the only party that would claim of overwhelming victory, but has the most problems. It is the only party that is supposed to emerge supreme but yet the number of those deserting PKR is frightening — 50 senior leaders left, including 12 or 13 elected representatives who have openly said they have burnt bridges with PKR,” said Soi Lek.

MCA lost even more seats than PKR, but Soi Lek forgets

However, Soi Lek omitted to mention despite PKR's losses in the number of elected reps, it still held more seats in Parliament than the MCA's 15. To prevent a repeat, PKR de facto leader Anwar Ibrahim, who is also the Opposition Leader, has said the party would field 40 per cent new candidates in the coming polls, promising to field more educated professionals instead of activists.

"I don't want to keep repeating but it is exactly this lack of principled that MCA has failed to recover from the ashes of 2008. Soi Lek points the finger at PKR, but says nothing about MCA's own loss of seats. It warns against big brother PAS but fails to mention BN's own bully beef Umno. What is this? What kind of a man is this? How can he be a leader?" asked Jui Meng, a former MCA vice president, who knows the scandal-tainted Soi Lek.

Corroborating with Umno to 'racialize' corruption

Jui Meng, like many other MCA leaders, have warned the BN component is due to lose at least 30% of its members to the PKR and DAP. A massive exodus is due as disenchanted members give up on Soi Lek and team, said Jui Meng.

"Just examine what Soi Lek has said, the facts one by one. Which one did he not spin or give excuses for? He speaks about NFC and blames Shahrizat for not responding swiftly but quick as a flash, he rushes to defend Prime Minister Najib Razak for handling the situation well, when it is the total opposite. Najib should have immediately advised Shahrizat to go on leave and order a probe but no, he joined Shahrizat in insisting NFC was an opposition ploy," Jui Meng, the former Bakri MP, said.

"And over the weekend, Ibrahim Ali has begun racialising the corruption at NFC. Ibrahim Ali is saying if those who embezzled from NFC are Malays and from Umno and the whistle-blowers are non-Malays, then it is not wrong. It is not stealing but an act of patriotism, and the people to be punished should be the whistle-blowers because of the color of their skin. But to Soi Lek, this is fine and acceptable. No wonder, MCA members are jumping ship."

Malaysia Chronicle