IPOH, March 1 ― In the wake of the most recent call by an Umno leader for MCA to leave Barisan Nasional (BN), the latter’s grassroots leaders and members are urging party leaders to decide quickly once and for all.
While some think the party should still remain in BN, more and more are clamouring for MCA to leave in order to “salvage whatever pride the party still has.”
On Monday, Datuk Seri Nazri Abdul Aziz said MCA should just leave BN like other former component parties.
Nazri, who is also BN secretary-general, said MCA should follow the footsteps of former BN component parties like Parti Gerakan Rakyat Malaysia (PGRM) and several Sarawak-based parties if they did not like BN.
MCA retorted by demanding BN remove Nazri as its secretary-general.
Party secretary-general Datin Paduka Chew Mei Fun insisted that a major reason why the former ruling coalition has fallen to such lows is the arrogance of leaders such as Nazri.
One Kinta Valley division leader said the party should stop prolonging and delaying the inevitable.
“The longer we drag the issue, the people, especially the Chinese community, whom we are representing, will say we are merely putting up a show,” he told Malay Mail.
“So let's be quick with the decision to leave. The party need not wait for the BN supreme council to meet before deciding to leave. Look at the rest of the BN parties. They left the coalition without the supreme council convening a meeting,” he added.
He said leaving the coalition does not mean the party would stop working with other BN parties.
“We can be a loose coalition. Something like Pakatan Rakyat during the 12th and 13th general election,” he said, adding that staying on in BN is just not viable anymore as the Chinese are turned off by the name.
Another Ipoh Timur member said MCA is in this dilemma because it is not firm in its decision.
He likened BN and MCA to a husband and wife about to divorce, but the wife still goes out with the husband.
“The behaviour of MCA leaders is opening themselves and the party to be ridiculed,” he added, noting that PGRM showed guts when it left BN.
He also found it ludicrous that MCA is demanding BN be dissolved.
“You are only a one per cent shareholder. How to go up against a 99 per cent shareholder?” he asked.
Then there is the Ipoh Barat member who said both Nazri and MCA should sit down and talk behind closed doors and not through the media.
“Rather than squabble in public, both are making a mockery of themselves,” he said.
Asked if he supported MCA leaving BN, the member said the party should think long and hard before doing so.
“If the party leaves now, what will happen during the 15th general election? Can MCA go into the battle alone?” he asked.
A member from Batu Gajah thinks a BN supreme council meeting should be convened to discuss the dissolution of the coalition.
“MCA was one of the founding members. Out of courtesy, discussions should be held before deciding,” he said.
Meanwhile, former Perak MCA youth chief Ting Tai Fook feels it is too late for MCA to leave the coalition now.
“They should have done so before the 14th general elections,” he said.
“It needs to do internal cleansing as soon as possible and recruit members from Pakatan Harapan parties who are frustrated with the current scenario,” he said.
