KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 22 –Chinese Malaysians appear to have grown increasingly dismissive of the potentially party-shattering power struggle happening in MCA and that is a distressing sign for an organisation which is entrusted by the Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition to help regain the trust and support of the community.
Some print and online news organisations are facing difficulty engaging readers in the battle between MCA president Datuk Seri Ong Tee Keat and his erstwhile deputy Datuk Seri Chua Soi Lek and this appears to reflect the situation on the voting ground.
The largest Chinese language newspaper by circulation in Malaysia, Sin Chew Daily, recently ran a piece titled “Who cares about MCA’s party crisis?”, saying that while it is still talked about within the community, most do not care if MCA collapses.
One online news website has been reluctant to send its video crew to cover the Chua-Ong leadership tussle apparently because such videos “cannot sell”.
Sources in mainly Chinese language news website Merdeka Review say there is hardly any interest in MCA with the exception of the announcement on August 26 that Chua had been sacked, with most of the clicks going to other stories.
“Even the announcement of a minor press conference by Pakatan Rakyat was hotter news than Tan Chai Ho submitting his requisition for an EGM,” says the source.
Analysts say the lack of concern for MCA, a party that was part of the political alliance that won the country its independence, is not surprising due to the switch of ethnic Chinese support to Pakatan Rakyat.
MCA’s Insap think-tank deputy chairman, Rita Sim, says that according to her research, between 80 to 85 per cent of ethnic Chinese now support Pakatan Rakyat.
“The Chinese voters have not shifted back since last year and their position has hardened,” she tells The Malaysian Insider.
Merdeka Centre chief Ibrahim Suffian says that no matter the outcome of the power struggle, MCA will have a tough time reaching out to its traditional constituency.
“Over the last one year, the Chinese protest vote is slowly consolidating,” he says. “The EGM will allow the party to sort out its internal conflicts but will not help it attain the wider goal of winning votes.”
Sim says that the most important issue facing the party is not who becomes president or even if, as speculated, both Ong and Chua make way for fresh presidential elections, but how the party is going to regain Chinese votes.
She thinks that Umno is already starting to take matters into its own hands rather than involving its partners.
She points out Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s official visit to Batu Caves without MIC president Datuk Seri Samy Vellu and Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin’s discussions with Chinese education group Dong Zong without involving MCA.
“Umno seems to be going directly to the Chinese community and it has to do that to get back the voters,” she says.
There have also been suggestions on the Internet by Umno sympathisers that the party has given up on its BN partners and set up its own Chinese and Indian affairs unit.
“I won’t be surprised if this happens,” says Ibrahim. “They might not want to wait for things to happen in the component parties.”
Sim, however, worries that should MCA collapse, the Chinese community would be in a “lose-lose” situation.
“I don’t think they favour Pakatan Rakyat so much as they see BN having a lot of credibility issues,” she says. “I think both sides have issues with talent shortage.”
Not many people from MCA have wanted to speculate on the outcome of the EGM on Oct 10 or its implications. Some have also said that “anything can happen” between now and then.
But whether Ong or Chua wins over the general assembly – MCA’s highest decision making body –the party looks set to remain in crisis where regaining Chinese votes is concerned.
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