DAP kowtowed to Mahathir, failed to help Chinese when in govt, says MCA

(FMT) – The MCA accused its political nemesis DAP of failing to adequately represent the Chinese community when given the chance to do so, saying it had given in to Malay leaders, especially former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

Its vice-president, Ti Lian Ker, said MCA had been instrumental in the past in ensuring Chinese values were upheld in government by standing up against the conversion of non-Muslim minors to Muslims and hudud laws, among other policies.

He said Chinese voters have reached a crossroads now, faced with a choice of supporting the government and having a seat at the table in policy discussion and execution or maintaining loyalty to DAP.

Ti said that despite DAP trying to blame the MCA for all the frustrations of the Chinese community in the past and provoking “anger and hatred” towards the party, the opposition party was unable to fulfil its promises when given the chance in 2018.

“DAP secured 90% of the Chinese vote. The overwhelming support it obtained did not result in any significant changes to their livelihood,” he said in a statement.

With 42 MPs against Dr Mahathir’s 13, DAP proved that it was much weaker and a bigger letdown to the Chinese than MCA, with DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng announcing he was not a Chinese and allowing Mahathir to renege on election promises.

“Instead of moving forward, the Pakatan Harapan (PH) government regressed, and DAP allowed Tun Mahathir to return to a Malay-centric government, for which MCA had been criticised and demonised before.”

He said that in not pushing for the post of deputy prime minister and having just four Chinese ministers despite winning the most seats in Parliament, DAP had “forgotten that it was the Chinese community that gave them the greatest support”.

“In the end, the PH government maintained most, if not all, Bumiputera policies and appointed Malays as ministers in all key Cabinet and GLC positions.

“DAP even agreed to an increase in the Bumiputera entry quota to local public universities and supported the introduction of Jawi lessons in schools to win over the Malay electorate.”

Furthermore, Ti said the same people MCA had stood firm against on Malay and Islamic issues in the past — opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim and Mahathir — were the ones dictating the policies when DAP was in government.