THE Malacca state elections that saw MCA bag two seats have sparked talk of a revival for Barisan Nasional’s (BN) main ethnic Chinese component party.

Analysts said the party was not expected to snare any of the seven seats it contested where it faced opponents from its traditional nemesis DAP and one-time fellow BN component party Gerakan.

MCA contested in Machap Jaya, Kelebang, Ayer Keroh, Kesidang, Kota Laksamana, Bandar Hilir and Bemban.

Its candidates won the Machap Jaya and Kelebang seats.

Analysts also told The Malaysian Insight that DAP’s defeat in four of eight constituencies it contested is a warning from the Chinese community to the party.

According to political analyst Lum Chih Feng, the Chinese voters in Malacca decided to punish DAP a little over its failure in handling issues affecting the community, and this has given MCA a breathing space to spark its revival.

“The situation here is the same as that in the Tanjung Piai by-election in 2019. The Chinese basically still disagree with BN and Perikatan Nasional,” he said.

“However, if MCA can deliver results under BN this time around and regain the confidence of the voters, then MCA can return to its glory days just as before 2013.”

MCA won 15 parliamentary seats in the 2008 general election, but it began to decline in 2013 when it only won seven parliamentary seats and 11 state seats.

In the 2018 general election, MCA secured only one parliamentary seat – Ayer Hitam – through Wee Ka Siong, who is now the party president.

It then captured the Tanjung Piai parliamentary seat in a by-election.

“I predict that the new MCA state representatives will serve as state exco members in the new government,” said Lum.

“With this, BN will show that its model is still effective in Malacca and even nationwide.”

He said the Malacca elections provided an opportunity for BN and MCA to reverse the perception of non-Muslims towards BN.

Warning to DAP

Lau Zhe Wei, an assistant professor at International Islamic University Malaysia, said there were two factors for DAP’s defeat in four constituencies in Malacca.

The first, he said, was the low voter turnout that did not hand any advantage to DAP and Pakatan Harapan.

Second, he claimed, the Chinese voters in the semi-urban and rural constituencies no longer supported DAP like they did in the last general election.

“DAP has no problem with the Chinese community in urban areas. The problem lies in non-urban electoral districts. You will find that so-called major issues such as party-hopping and corruption have little effect in these electoral districts,” he said.

“It will be ethnic, religious, personal issues and so on.”

Therefore, he said, BN has an advantage in the semi-urban and rural constituencies.

Senior political analyst and veteran journalist Cheah See Kian said the outcome of the Malacca polls is a warning to DAP.

“Although DAP still managed to hold on to some of its traditional seats, it still lost half of the seats it contested,” he said.

“In the past, voters supported DAP, but this time, they were selective, allowing themselves to choose MCA or other parties.

“The main reason is that after DAP came to power in 2018, its performance in all aspects did not satisfy the voters.

“In the almost two years in power, DAP was entangled in controversial issues such as the introduction of Jawi script in schools and the delay in recognising the Unified Examination Certificate.

“These gave people the impression that it was not much different from MCA in the past.”

Cheah, however, warned MCA that its win in Malacca could not be regarded as an indicator for the next general election.

“The two seats that MCA won were once the party’s fortresses, but they lost them in the 2018 general election,” he said.

“This time, they fought to give the locals a sense of familiarity and gained an advantage. As for DAP, its candidate deployment strategy was not satisfactory.”

He said the outcome of the Malacca polls showed that MCA still has hope in the next general election. – November 22, 2021.