It never rains but it pours. With a looming court case in France over the Scorpenes kickbacks scandal which includes a murder plot, a wife embroiled in a ring scandal and a dysfunctional administration that has lost its plot, Najib Razak now faces loosing support amongst the BN component parties.
BN which is a coalition of 13 political parties with UMNO being the biggest, followed by MCA and then MIC, has been holding court for 53 years. Of late, UMNO has leaned to the right, dictating the conduct and policies of the coalition and in turn steadily loosing the support of Malaysians.
Najib Razak’s attempt at buying the MIC vote by giving their president a ministerial post, seems to have back-fired with the MIC president issuing an arrogant rant that only MIC can be allowed to represent the Indian interest in BN. If other Indian-based political parties were to be admitted into BN, MIC would "walk out".
And now, more voices of dissent have risen. It seems MCA is also rethinking its stance in BN, but in typical 'kiasu-style' MCA is not leaving the coalition. Instead, MCA leaders are realigning themselves behind Muhyiddin Yassin - heir to the Prime Minister's post.
Mimicking Muhyiddin now, will Chua say: I'm Chinese first, Malaysian second
MCA president, Dr Chua Soi Lek has been active, trying to keep the MCA in the news and up-to-mark with the Joneses. For example, Dr Chua’s latest rant at the DAP, accusing the party of pitting Chinese against Chinese and attempting to create a 'little China' smells more of a publicity stunt than a statement of any value.
Constitutionally speaking, it is close to impossible for Malaysia to have a Chinese Prime Minister, let alone form a Chinese Malaysia as asserted by Dr Chua. The Chinese vote alone cannot form a government. Malaysia will always be a nation that requires all groups to work together and this means more than just the Chinese.
This little jab flung by Dr Chua at the DAP seems rather off-hand and idiotic. Was Dr Chua attempting to light Chinese anger at DAP? Or to get UMNO supporters all riled up at DAP?
It is telling that UMNO’s mouth-piece, Utusan Malaysia, recently saw fit to blame the Christians for attempting to install a Christian prime minister. We now have the president of the MCA getting into an ugly brawl and accusing arch rival, DAP, of attempting to turn Malaysia into a 'mini China'. This rather skewed and racially-loaded statement by Dr Chua mirrors very much the stance taken by Muhyiddin Yassin.
But it is little wonder that Dr Chua is starting to sound like Muhyiddin. MCA leaders are cold-bloodedly re-aligning their support behind a man whom they used to accuse of being racist and anti- 1Malaysia. Why? Because like many others, they see Najib as 'finished' and Muhyiddin the next prime minister of Malaysia.
The MCA leaders see the realignment as 'workable' for their party as Najib has seriously lost favor amongst the Chinese. Dr Chua had tried the Najib approach by telling the Chinese community that a vote for DAP would mean less Chinese representation in Parliament. The Chinese community did not buy into it and Dr Chua was ridiculed, jeered and laughed off as a silly goose.
Now, Dr Chua is trying the Muhyiddin route. Will we see Dr Chua state that he is “Chinese first, and Malaysian second”?
Rats fleeing a sinking ship
Yet, as MCA tries to maneuver and butter its way into a politically strong position, their leaders seem to have truly lost the plot again. Assuming that Muhyiddin agreed to help them, will it really shore up MCA's position? Is Muhyiddin really so all-powerful?
The fact is BN would still not win back the Chinese community. To do that, MCA has to work on its own distinct stance and policies, rather than be a peon to UMNO or Muhyiddin.
The survival of MCA is not a reflected goal or indeed of much concern to the Chinese. Instead, the latest realignment of support for Muhyiddin merely benefits a few of the top MCA leaders.
The greater Chinese community will continue to get nothing from the MCA. They will still have to put up with the same ailments that have besieged their race for as long as the MCA has been in the BN. In fact, this may further alienate MCA from the Chinese community as their leaders cluster within a small group bent on supporting Muhyiddin to gain his favour.
Indeed, these are both interesting and troubling times. As the BN parties jostle for position in an apparent government-to-be headed by Muhyiddin Yassin, they expose their true colours and their real insincerity.
Not only have they lost sight of the reason for their being - and that is to look after the welfare of the citizens and the state - they have exposed themselves to be little better than poltical cheats, willing to bactrack on principle for the sake of cushy jobs and money.
