MOHAMED Nazri Abdul Aziz must not be present at this Friday’s Barisan Nasional supreme council meeting as his appointment as secretary-general is invalid under the pact’s constitution, said MCA and MIC.

MCA president Dr Wee Ka Siong and his MIC counterpart, S.A. Vigneswaran, said under the BN constitution, the appointment of the secretary-general is to be made after consultation with the supreme council.

They said their parties will not attend the Friday meeting if Nazri insists on being present as secretary-general.

Wee and Vigneswaran said Nazri’s appointment was never discussed or officially agreed on by the supreme council, instead, it was announced by BN chairman Ahmad Zahid Hamidi at the opening of MIC’s general assembly last October.

“If Nazri is stubborn and attends the meeting, its (the meeting’s) validity will be questioned.

“To avoid questions as to the legality of the meeting, MCA and MIC will only attend a valid BN supreme council meeting.”

MCA and MIC have been at loggerheads with Nazri over his comments made at a Semenyih by-election campaign ceramah.

Wee and Vigneswaran described Nazri’s comments as racist and lacking respect for BN components.

In response, Nazri said it is no loss for BN if MCA and MIC quit the coalition.

“Yesterday, Nazri again spoke in his capacity as BN secretary-general to continue criticising MCA and MIC,” said the joint statement today.

“Our stand is, Nazri has no local standi to make statements as BN secretary-general.

“So, we have made our stand clear to the BN secretariat, that Nazri does not qualify to attend the supreme council meeting this Friday.”

Following its annual general assembly last month, MCA called for the dissolution of BN, following the coalition’s defeat in the 14th general election last year. – March 5, 2019.