Perkasa warns MCA, Gerakan toe the line or lose Malay votes

ALOR STAR, April 30 — Perkasa warned the MCA and Gerakan today that it would tell the Malays not to vote for their candidates in the next general election if they fail to stand up for the Malays and Islam.

Perkasa president Datuk Ibrahim Ali said Barisan Nasional’s (BN) Chinese-based parties would not win any seats without Malay votes and cautioned them to “be friends with Perkasa.”

“We will see whether candidates defend Malays and Islam. If not Perkasa will give the green light to pancung (cut off) them in the general election,” he said at a gathering organised by the Malay rights group here.

Although the Pasir Mas MP extended this threat to all candidates for a general election expected within a year, he singled out the MCA and Gerakan as those that needed Malay votes to win.

“With no Malay votes, not even one can win. They better be friends with Perkasa,” he said.

A majority of Perkasa members are also in Umno, the dominant partner in BN.

Perkasa had supported Utusan Malaysia’s call for a 1 Melayu, 1 Bumi movement after BN lose nearly all Chinese-majority seats in the April 16 Sarawak election.

The result echoed the loss of Chinese votes in the March 2008 general election where MCA won just 15 seats in Parliament — fewer than half the 31 MPs it had before — and Gerakan were wiped out in its former stronghold of Penang.

Umno-owned Utusan Malaysia called for the 1 Melayu, 1 Bumi campaign to unite the Malays against what the Umno-owned daily said was racial politics by DAP to stir up Chinese sentiment.

This led to a running feud with Chinese-dominated parties especially the MCA who called for a boycott of the newspaper.

Ibrahim recently attacked MCA president Datuk Seri Dr Chua Soi Lek for blaming the loss of Chinese support on Perkasa and the Malay daily, saying that the party’s “immoral leaders” were the cause instead.

He was referring to the sex video that surfaced at the end of 2007 which led to Dr Chua resigning as health minister and MCA vice-president.

Although Ibrahim again criticised Dr Chua for using Perkasa as a “punching bag” today, he supported the announcement that the MCA would decline any government posts if it did not perform in the next general election.

“This is an honourable move. I hope this makes the Chinese aware that they will not be represented if they don’t support BN,” he told reporters after the Perhimpunan Melayu Perkasa Kedah gathering.

Earlier, he had told over 1,000 Malays that the Chinese should be satisfied that “they can do anything in business.”

“They control gambling, alcohol and entertainment centres. These are worth billions. Do Malays stop them? Does the government stop them?

“Still they are not satisfied. What more do they want?” he said.