WITH no representation in the Anwar Ibrahim cabinet, MCA — a component member of Barisan Nasional (BN) — has resorted to playing a monitoring role in the unity government. 

Party president Wee Ka Siong said MCA would make sure checks and balances were in place, from top to bottom.  

“If they are doing the right thing, we will praise them. Where the government has gone wrong, we will also point it out,” Wee said in a special Chinese New Year interview. 

Such a role would normally be taken up by opposition parties, but Wee has made it clear that MCA supports the unity government. 

He described the role as “pragmatic” in getting the government to “do a better job” and “make the country better”. 

It’s a role all MCA members should play, he added. 

“They do not have to wait until they are appointed or get some sort of official position before they start to monitor the government. 

“Every party member can play a supervisory role. They can still put forward their views on the policies. 

“You don’t have to wait until you become a state legislator to speak out,” Wee said. 

The former transport minister said MCA could not afford to remain silent if it did not want to fall into oblivion.  

“People will forget us if we don’t speak up. We cannot just serve without getting noticed. 

“When we actively speak up on issues, it will naturally make people remember us.” 

Wee said, with only two MPs now, the time had come for MCA to be reborn. 

With elections looming in six states — Selangor, Negri Sembilan, Penang, Kedah, Kelantan, and Terengganu — he said that his party needed new and knowledgeable leaders who could eloquently express their views. 

The MCA president said he was optimistic about the party’s fortunes in the coming state elections. 

Asked if BN would team up with Pakatan Harapan (PH) to face the state elections, all Wee could say was “just wait and see what happens”.  

He said nothing was carved in stone in politics. 

“Politics is not a one plus one equals to two thing. It’s constantly changing. Things may be different in two months’ time. 

He used the 2022 Johor state election as an example. 

BN won that race, but it was defeated eight months later in the general election.

“A lot can change in eight months.” 

Wee said that if the many parties in the unity government could not work together, it would be detrimental to them. 

PKR deputy president Rafizi Ramli on January 14 said that PH and the BN had yet to discuss any political arrangement with regard to the state elections. 

He, however, did say he expected a partnership to form between the two coalitions.

“The most important indicator remains the performance of the unity government in the coming months. 

“People are still concerned with bread-and-butter issues and how the unity government tackles the rising food costs.” 

Wee forecasts that the state elections in Kedah, Kelantan and Terengganu, the states with a Malay-Muslim majority — where Perikatan Nasional are expected to win — would be held “right after the Lunar New Year”. 

MCA, he added, would draw up its strategy for all six state elections next month. – January 25, 2023.