MCA, MIC’S EMPTY THREAT TO UMNO – STRATEGIC MOVE OR MORE FOOLISHNESS? TO KA SIONG & VIGNES, IT’S A WAY TO BUTTRESS THEIR OWN CREDIBILITY – BUT IF NOTHING HAPPENS, THE CHINESE & INDIANS WILL HATE THEM EVEN MORE

MCA and MIC have issued a joint statement that the two parties are left with no choice but to move on to explore a new alliance to reflect the true intentions of unity in diversity of its original intent.

This is a powerful signal from the two parties to Umno that the coalition could collapse if the internal problems within BN are left unresolved.

The foundation of BN has begun to fall apart since its defeat in last year’s general elections, with component parties fumbling to explore their own destinies and most of them having decided to leave. Those staying back unfortunately are powerless in bringing the coalition together once again.

It has been some time since Umno started to lean closer towards PAS, and their open cooperation in more recent months show that the two parties are indeed moving closer and closer to each other.

To Umno, PAS’ influences in the Malay society is a major asset although to MCA and MIC, PAS is nothing more than a tremendous burden that must be unloaded.

It is within anticipation that both MCA and MIC are very unhappy with Umno working together with PAS, and the racist statements from Umno leaders have further soured the relationship among the allies.

MCA and MIC have hinted at a new political alliance which BN secretary-general Mohamed Nazri welcomes, arguing that this would be better for Umno as the party will no longer have to worry about distributing Malay seats to MCA and MIC.

However, not all Umno leaders are standing on the same side as Nazri. Acting president Mohamad Hasan says he understands the frustration of Wee Ka Siong and Vigneswaran Sanasee, while Umno Youth chairman Asyraf Wajdi Dusuki urges the two parties to sit down and talk and not to rush through a decision because Umno understands that it cannot count on Malay votes alone to win the next general elections.

It may be premature now to talk about forming a new alliance. BN will convene a meeting in near future to discuss this.

As a matter of fact, it won’t be easy for MCA and MIC to forge a new alliance under the existing political circumstances because they need to first look for a new bumi/Malay partner in order to win the support of all major races of this country. And this is not easy!

From the strategic point of view, the showdown from MCA and MIC is a move in the right direction. Even if they eventually fail to form a new alliance, at least they have sent a strong signal to Umno that BN’s problems must be dealt with urgently and that there is this need to review the cooperation with PAS.

We cannot deny that BN is no longer what it used to be. With Umno having all the say, it has become meaningless for minor partners to stick to the coalition.

If MCA and MIC are not able to fix BN’s problems, they will have to look for another way out that will at least give them a new opportunity of rebirth.

MYSINCHEW