UMNO’s End Game

ARCHIVES 2010

By admin-s On Mar 6, 2010

Prime Minister Najib Razak will not be attending the disputed MCA annual general meeting this Sunday. Najib’s absence is going to be read as a lost of support for incumbent MCA President Ong Tee Keat.

By Khoo Kay Peng

The presence of UMNO President to launch the annual general assembly of Barisan component parties is the clearest sign of UMNO’s superiority over other parties. Previous presidents who did not enjoy the support of UMNO president/prime minister were quickly removed from the party.

Dr Lim Chong Eu was strong enough to defeat Tan Cheng Lock for the MCA presidency but his dispute with UMNO president Tunku Abdul Rahman over seats allocation was quickly manipulated by his party leaders to push him out of MCA.

Sadly, history is going to repeat itself again here. Ong is not expected to be able to launch a strong challenge to defend his post if the delegates want a closer relationship with UMNO. It is customary for parties in the coalition to compete for the attention and goodwill of UMNO.

However, it is unlikely for Ong to follow the footsteps of Dr Lim in forming an opposition party, the United Democratic Party (a backbone for the formation of Parti Gerakan) after a two-year hiatus from politics.

In an equal partnership, there should have been a rotating coalition chairmanship. No other leader from a non-UMNO party has ever led Barisan.

Hence, a leadership change in MCA will not help the party to resolve its own political crisis or to recapture the support of Chinese community.

MCA’s main problem is the prevailing ugly elitist and discriminative politics in Malaysia. This brand of elitist politics is merely manipulating and abusing race and religion to benefit their own kind.

MCA’s decline is irreversible and imminent if UMNO is allowed to perpetuate its brand of elitist politics unchecked and unchallenged.

UMNO is not going to and cannot leave its “ketuanan Melayu” (Malay supremacy) politics behind. UMNO’s survival depends on its ability to convince the Malays that they are the princes of the land and the party’s its protector.