Dear MCA and MIC: Perikatan Nasional won’t be a bed of roses for you guys
Both MCA and MIC are yet to decide to join Perikatan Nasional (PN) officially. However, PN is more than eager to invite both parties to join the PAS-dominated coalition.
On August 31, PAS’s deputy president, Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man reportedly suggested that both MIC and MCA leave Barisan Nasional (BN) and join PN. The invitation came following decisions by two MIC state chapters for the party to pull out from BN, with Kedah MIC even suggesting that the party join PN.
Whether or not both MCA and MIC would leave BN to join PN will only be known in the next two years prior to the next general elections (GE16).
However, if both parties are secretly plotting to join PN, they need to be ready to brace the cold, hard truth: PN is no bed of roses for them, and their membership in the coalition will be riddled with internal tensions.
Yes, it would not be an easy venture for them, even though both have worked with PN in previous governments.
Seat clashes among components
Should MCA and MIC join PN, they should anticipate a messy clash with Gerakan, Malaysian Indian People’s Party (MIPP), and non-Malay wings of both Bersatu and PAS in getting hold of non-Malay seats nationwide to contest. I don’t have to go as far as Klang Valley to Johor to explain how ugly these ordeals would be.
Allow me to explain using my home state, Penang, as an example.
i. Perai - The Penang state seat (which has 36% Indian voters) has been a traditional seat of MIC until BN was kicked out of the state in the 2008 general elections. MIC did not contest in the 2023 state elections as it decided to abstain from participating. The seat was contested by Gerakan, which lost to incumbent DAP-Pakatan Harapan (PH) and forfeited its election deposit.
Should MIC intend to contest the seat in the next state elections, would Gerakan be okay with it? What is the guarantee that Gerakan would not demand to recontest the seat, using its seniority in the coalition? Also, what if MIPP or even the non-Malay wings of Bersatu and PAS start asking for the seat?
How would MIC navigate through this negotiation chaos, despite its long history in Perai prior to 2008?
ii. Bukit Mertajam: Bukit Mertajam is a parliamentary seat that has been continuously represented by DAP since 1999. MCA has been consistently contesting in the federal seat since then.
Both MCA and PAS contested against DAP in the 2022 general elections. Should MCA intend to throw its hat into the ring again in Bukit Mertajam for GE16, what is the guarantee that it would not face resistance from PAS, whose candidate won 7,051 more votes than MCA’s?
It is worth noting that MCA and MIC would not only face difficulty in negotiating seats with its allies for these two seats, but also for other state and federal seats with significant non-Malay populations like Bagan Dalam, Batu Kawan, Air Putih, Tg Bungah and more.
Are both parties ready for this mess?
PN’s racism
Apart from facing potentially messy seat negotiations, both MCA and MIC would have to cope with the non-stop racist drivels made by PN leaders either in or outside parliament and during election campaigns.
How would both parties work with a Bersatu president who claimed that Pakatan Harapan wanted to Christianise the country during the GE15 campaign? How can they convince non-Muslims in West Coast states to vote for PN?
How would both parties work with a PAS president who accused non-Malays and non-Muslims of being “the root of corruption”, as he claimed that a majority of them are involved in corruption?
It is worth noting that part of the reason why both MCA and MIC are questioning their futures in BN (apart from being sidelined in the unity government) is the “Malay Muslim supremacy” ideology championed by Umno, which has cost these parties dearly as they bleed non-Malay votes and are now treated as social pariahs by the Chinese and the Indians.
Are both parties ready to face the same toxic ideology, this time with different standard bearers like PAS and Bersatu?
Why is PN so eager to welcome both parties?
Let us call a spade a spade here: PN’s extension of olive branch to both MCA and MIC is driven by desperation to woo non-Malay votes. The coalition has seen its Malay support plateaued for years, while support among the non-Malays remains poor.
Additionally, Gerakan and the MIPP are too weak and irrelevant to lure non-Malays into voting for this coalition. Therefore, PN is hoping to improve its fortunes with this community by bringing in MCA and MIC, although their current situation is no less different from Gerakan and MIPP.
We also need to acknowledge that this invitation by PN to both parties is a strategic move by the former to show the unity government that it is disunited, and that the opposition still has the “mojo” that makes it alluring to other parties.
I am not trying to make a case for both MCA and MIC to reject PN’s offer and stick with BN. I am not a BN supporter, and therefore could not care less about its internal squabbles.
It is just that if both parties decide to join PN eventually, they should not expect smooth sailing ahead.
So, should things go south with this risky venture, what is next, MCA and MIC? Jump back to the laps of your big brother, Umno, and hug him even tighter? Good luck with that.
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