POLITICAL analysts surmise that MCA and MIC will not be able to survive if they leave the Barisan Nasional coalition, as their popularity among the Chinese and Indians is at an all-time low in the country.

Analyst and professor Awang Azman Awang Pawi said it will be hard for MCA and MIC to attach themselves to another coalition if they leave BN.

He said that whether they like it or not, they will have to gain the support of the Malays to have any chance of making an impact.

“It is not a good strategy for them if they dump BN. They will lose more than they benefit.

“Whether they like it or not, they have to align themselves with a party that caters to ethnic Malays,” said Awang.

He told The Malaysian Insight that their other options are PKR and Bersatu, and those parties may not want to work with them as they have no strong seats to offer in Parliament.

“It’s hard for them to form another alliance. PKR and Bersatu may not want their support as they have nothing to offer in terms of dominant seats.

“This could spell the end for MCA and MIC,” he said.

Awang said that reports that Umno and PAS may use a common logo in the next general election, following their successful cooperation in the recent Cameron Highlands and Semenyih by-elections, pose a challenge to BN.

PAS secretary-general Takiyuddin Hassan was reported as saying that the matter would be discussed at a joint Umno-PAS consultation committee meeting on Thursday.

“On one hand, this logo could be seen to unite Malay Muslims in the country. But on the other hand, BN may be dissolved because of this.

“This is a challenge to BN as it will take time for the other parties (MCA and MIC) to come to terms with this partnership. The grassroots may also not be ready for the use of a common logo,” he said.

Awang said that the potential PAS and UMNO alliance cannot get total control without the support of all the ethnicities in Malaysia.

Another political analyst professor, James Chin, said that this is “uncharted territory” for MCA and MIC.

“The two parties cannot survive outside BN,” he told The Malaysian Insight.

He said the coalition was of no use as both the parties have lost the confidence of the people they represent.

“They can create a new alliance. They can kick Umno out of BN. There are many options to them.

“But no matter what they do, they have lost the trust of the Indians and Chinese,” he said.

“Politically, they are heading nowhere.”

Yesterday, MCA and MIC announced that they are exploring a new alliance to reflect the true intentions of unity in diversity in their original intent.

The parties said they are exploring their political options following recent racial remarks by BN secretary-general Nazri Aziz during the Semenyih by-election campaign in a joint statement.

MCA president Wee Ka Siong and MIC president S.A. Vigneswaran said Nazri’s racial remarks were “uncalled for” and have further damaged ties between BN’s three founding parties – Umno, MCA and MIC.

They urged the BN supreme council to hold a meeting immediately and decide the fate of the coalition.

At its annual general assembly on February 12, MCA resolved to moot BN’s dissolution. – March 5, 2019.