ONCE dominant Barisan Nasional (BN) component parties MCA and MIC are close to becoming “obsolete” in the current political landscape with Umno claiming its cooperation with Pakatan Harapan (PH) could go beyond the next general election, experts said. 

Citing their performance in past elections, political pundits said support for MCA and MIC was dwindling and they were becoming increasingly “irrelevant”. 

International Islamic University of Malaysia’s Tunku Mohar Tunku Mohd Mokhtar said even the Chinese and Indians were ditching support for these parties. 

“MCA and MIC are struggling to stay relevant. 

“Traditionally, they depended on the votes from their ethnic groups, but since the Reformasi era, their support has been dwindling. The Chinese don’t see MCA as championing their interests, much as the Indians don’t see the same in MIC. 

“Their roles have been overtaken by DAP,” the political science assistant professor told The Malaysian Insight. 

Tunku Mohar said both MCA and MIC may still be relevant within the intercommunal alliance in BN. 

“But beyond that, they are not delivering seats to the coalition in elections (save a few),” he added. 

Tunku Mohar said for MCA and MIC to thrive, they should be projecting the BN image as they always did in the past. 

He, however, said the problem is that BN’s image is tainted by the corruption cases of its leaders. 

During the recently held national unity government convention, Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi and DAP secretary-general Anthony Loke said the unity government could stay relevant and be in power beyond the next general election if the parties committed to working together.

They said if the current cooperation model could be continued and strengthened, it would create a new future for national politics. 

This, however, cast doubt on the political futures of the currently less-popular MCA and MIC. 

Ilham Centre executive director Hisommudin Bakar concurred with Tunku Mohar, saying MCA and MIC had long lost their grip on being relevant and dominant in the political arena. 

On seat allocations for these parties in the state polls as well as federal elections, Hisommudin said it would be difficult for BN and PH to come to terms on the matter. 

“The position of the component parties MCA and MIC is shrinking in the current political landscape because it is depending on the share obtained by BN as a whole in seat negotiations with PH. 

“The challenge is that in seats with non-Malay composition, the two BN component parties have long lost their support. 

“The bargaining power of BN to get a seat belonging to PH in these areas is difficult unless the seat belongs to the incumbent,” he said. 

Even if it goes by incumbency, Hisommudin said it would favour the parties in PH more than MCA and MIC. 

“It would be difficult for BN to negotiate because the incumbency policy in the vote distribution formula gives PH the advantage in seats traditionally owned by MIC and MCA,” he said.  

Race-based politics still relevant  

Both pundits agreed that race-based politics was still relevant. However, they felt it only applied to Malay-based parties and not MCA and MIC 

Citing Perikatan Nasional’s (PN) “tsunami”, Tunku Mohar said it was evident that Malay-based parties thrived on race-based politics. 

“The recent trends may show otherwise, except for the Malays, as evidenced in the support for PN in the 15th general election,” he said. 

Meanwhile, Hisommudin said the support of non-Muslims was skewed towards the more multiracial PH. 

“The Chinese voters have turned to DAP while the Indian votes are mostly won by PKR,” he said. 

Hisommudin also questioned whether loyal MCA and MIC voters would cast their ballots for PH parties, with the situation likely to happen during the state polls. 

“The question now is, what is the attitude of the voters who are still loyal to MCA and MIC in the seats that have been handed over to PH? 

“Are they willing to vote for PH candidates (DAP, PKR and Amanah) in the next state election? 

“Will they turn out to vote, or will they spoil the vote? This would be the question in the upcoming state polls,” he said. 

Recently, MCA secretary-general Chong Sin Woon warned Zahid against putting DAP ahead of BN parties.

He said Zahid should look after the interests of BN component parties instead of those of PH, especially DAP. 

Meanwhile, Umno grassroots members also felt they were compelled to support PH chairman and Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim and DAP in the state elections. – May 27, 2023.