The Malaysian Insight

CHINESE Malaysians, who constitute 23% of the population, should recognise that they cannot change the government in the 14th general election, former MCA president Dr Chua Soi Lek said.

Dr Chua said Malaysia was still in a “Malays first” paradigm, and that change ultimately lay with the majority ethnic group, something the political veteran said parties like Umno and Bersatu understood.

“Although there was a ‘Chinese tsunami’ in the last general election, the government can’t be changed solely by Chinese votes,” he told The Malaysian Insight, referring to the 2013 elections which saw Chinese support for the ruling Barisan Nasional erode further after the coalition lost its super majority in Parliament in the previous election in 2008.

MCA is BN’s lead ethnic Chinese party. It suffered its worst electoral outing in 2013, winning only seven out of 37 parliamentary seats and 11 out of 90 state seats it contested. In comparison, its opposition rival DAP won 38 out of 51 parliamentary seats and 95 out of 103 state seats it contested.

MCA is said to have some 1.09 million members and is the second largest component party in BN. However, only 661,469 Chinese voters (18.4%) voted for BN in 2013, while 2.92 million (81.5%) voted for the now-defunct opposition bloc Pakatan Rakyat.

Dr Chua, who was MCA president during the 2013 election, said the Chinese should “vote wisely” given their minority status.

He said if every Chinese voter were to support the opposition, the Chinese community would have no representatives in government. The Chinese make 29.68% of the voting population.

“How do we change the government just by Chinese votes? We are nothing but 23% of the population. How is that possible? Most Malays from the older generation to the middle-aged see Umno as the party that stands for their status and religion. This is a fact that can’t be changed.”

The MCA veteran said Malay leaders understood this and as such focused on the Malay community in their statements and in policies.

“All Malays want to enjoy special Malay rights. Non-bumiputera parties fight and quarrel but still stay in the same bubble; no matter how you oppose each other internally, we still have to accept the political reality that the country is governed by Malays,” the former health minister said.

MCA, Dr Chua said, had suffered from the perception that it was an Umno proxy, and was ineffective in addressing the community’s concerns about the economy, corruption, and governance.

He added, however, that DAP had failed to be a check and balance against Umno.

He said that it could not assume the role of leader among its other opposition allies in Pakatan Harapan, and had handed the reins to other parties.

Malay-based parties like Bersatu and PKR had fewer seats than DAP in Parliament, yet play a more dominant role in the opposition pact, he said.

He also criticised DAP’s “lack of principles” for embracing former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad, whom they had criticised in the past.

Dr Mahathir is PH chairman and is the opposition’s prime minister-designate should it win the 14th general election.

“In the past, DAP spoke of curbing Umno’s power and told voters to (support their fight against Umno). How about now? They’re now in the same boat with Dr Mahathir and Muhyiddin (Yassin), who are working intimately with them. Don’t forget, these people are from Umno.”

Dr Chua, who had been in politics during Dr Mahathir’s administration, said the Chinese must remember that Bersatu, which the former prime minister chaired, was ultimately a Malay party that fought for Malay rights.

He said Dr Mahathir was “out of date” while PH itself was beset with problems it had not yet resolved, and as such, the opposition pact would not incite Malay voters to turn against BN in the coming elections. – March 24, 2018.