KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 28 — MCA can leave Barisan Nasional (BN) if it wants to as Umno will never agree to its dissolution, the coalition’s secretary-general Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz said in the continuing spat with its Chinese political ally.
The Padang Renggas MP told The Malaysian Insight that Umno has “plans for BN in the future” despite the coalition losing 10 of its component parties after the upset defeat at the general election last year that catapulted the four-party Pakatan Harapan (PH) alliance to Putrajaya.
“Umno members, in general, disagree with dissolving BN. We still want BN and we have plans for BN in the future,” he was quoted saying.
He added that BN’s dissolution was not raised at their coalition’s supreme council meeting after MCA — which celebrated its 70th anniversary yesterday — reached a resolution to push for it at its annual general meeting three months ago.
“They can leave. Do what Gerakan did, what PBB, what component parties in Sabah all did,” Nazri was quoted saying further, referring to Sarawak ruling party Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu.
He also said that he had not received any order from the BN chairman — temporarily Datuk Seri Mohamad Hassan who is also acting Umno president — to call for a coalition meeting, adding that “without a meeting, we can’t discuss the matter”.
MCA pushed for BN dissolution at its December 2 assembly last year and submitted its motion to the coalition secretariat 10 days later.
A BN supreme council meeting was supposed to be held on January 7 but was postponed indefinitely.
