Chart your courses carefully, MIC and MCA warned

 

A day after a BN supreme council meeting was called off abruptly, an Umno supreme council member has warned allies MIC and MCA to chart their courses carefully.

According to Mohd Puad Zarkashi (above), the two BN component parties should not be "too anxious" in looking for new partners - alluding to Bersatu and Perikatan Nasional (PN).

Puad said that while Umno has often been portrayed as being the "big brother" in BN, this was untrue. He said Umno always respected the "social contract", maintained vernacular schools, and helped its allies win in Malay-majority areas.

"Perhaps a 'big brother' does not exist in PN. Is the concept of 'we are brothers' by PN's diplomatic corps (applicable here)?" he asked.

He was referring to the controversial remarks made by Foreign Minister Hishammuddin Hussein who described China as Malaysia's "big brother" during a press conference in that country.

"If 'brotherhood' exists in PN, Umno would have joined them... Instead, Umno has been treated as a stepchild," wrote Puad on his Facebook page today.

In view of this, Puad said MIC and MCA must decide on their future carefully.

"Do not - for the sake of one or two seats - feel overly anxious and find a new partner to depend on, for they are the true big brother," he said.

Puad was co-opted into the Umno national leadership by party president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi who has turned hostile against the federal government led by Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin.

Under Zahid's leadership, Umno's annual general assembly resolved that the party would break ties with Bersatu and that the party president had the sole discretion to decide when.

As for MIC, the party's national delegates assembly resolved to support Muhyiddin and PN, unless the BN supreme council decides otherwise.

MCA's annual delegates assembly in early March committed to being part of BN during the next general election.

However, the commitment of MIC, MCA, and Parti Bersatu Rakyat Sabah (PBRS) has come into question after a monthly BN supreme council meeting scheduled for last night was abruptly called off.

Muhyiddin has appointed MIC deputy president S Saravanan and MCA president Wee Ka Siong to the powerful positions of human resource minister and transport minister respectively. - Mkini