MCA would never leave Barisan Nasional, Umno Youth chief Asyraf Wajdi Dasuki said, after the deputy president of the Chinese party threatened to end ties with its coalition partner if it chose to work with Islamist party PAS. 

He said MCA had faced the same scenario during the early formation of Barisan Nasional in 1973, and had stayed on when PAS joined the coalition.

“When BN was formed, the then MCA president Tan Siew Sin was the one who were most vocal in criticising and rejecting the proposal to have PAS on board, after Perikatan was disbanded. 

 “Wee Ka Siong’s views should be carefully studied. Let him raised his views in the BN supreme council meeting. 

“As long as there is no official announcement, the matter can still be discussed,” he told The Malaysian Insight, today. 

PAS joined Perikatan to form BN on January 1, 1972.

The party left shortly due to differences.

Last night, Wee said Umno could not make decisions on behalf of BN without consensus with other component parties. 

“If Umno does not respect its partners in the coalition and continues to work with PAS without bringing it to the discussion table, MCA will leave,” he said in a statement, today.

On the rebranding of BN, Asyraf said a committee would be established soon.

He stressed that the success of the new opposition depended on their strategy to win the people’s trust.

“The success of the rebranding will depend on how we can become more inclusive, not just among the components but also among others “

On Saturday, BN chairman Ahmad Zahid Hamidi  announced that the coalition would be rebranded and renamed.

“With the cooperation of our partners in BN and the opposition, we are moving towards creating a two-party system.”  

The proposal came following BN’s first electoral defeat after 66 years of rule. – October 29, 2018.