SHAH ALAM - The decision of MCA and MIC not to contest, but only help candidates from Barisan Nasional (BN) in the upcoming state polls hints at a strained relationship between political parties in the Unity Government.
Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM )Institute of Ethnic Studies Deputy Director, Professor Dr Kartini Aboo Talib@Khalid said the appearances of goodwill among the parties only seems to look good on the surface.
"I am of the view that this Unity Government has an agreeable common ground in the Pakatan Harapan (PH) coalition involving PKR, DAP, and Amanah.
"For that reason, the unity achieved between the coalition that is PH-BN only looks good at the surface, whereby in the past which is before the 15th General Election (GE15) the campaigns were all against each other.
"Once upon a time, Umno had sworn not to be together with or support PH; now they have joined together and form a Unity Government which is not completely clean of corruption charges," she told Sinar.
Kartini said this when asked to comment on MCA and MIC's announcement that both parties will not contest in the next state elections, claiming that they will only help candidates from BN.
Kartini elaborated that the decision of MCA and MIC was also made based on several reasons, among them MIC's performance in GE14 and GE15, which was not very encouraging.
She added that MCA was currently able gauge the votes of the pro-DAP Chinese community.
"Datuk Seri Dr Wee Ka Siong (MCA President) and Tan Sri SA Vigneswaran (MIC President) in November 2022 once proposed a vote of no confidence in the leadership of Datuk Seri Zahid Hamidi.
"This means that there has been a gap of trust in Zahid as a member of the BN component party.
"Thirdly, withdrawing today for stronger future preparations in the next elections (GE16) may be seen as better for MCA and MIC because the impact of state polls will not change the formation of a government which depends on parliamentary seats," she explained.
Meanwhile, Sunway University political expert, Professor Wong Chin Huat was of the view that the current issue has nothing to do with MCA and MIC not approving the relationship with PH or that there is no unity between the coalition parties of the Unity Government.
He explained that at the current stage, the issue revolves around the distribution of seats within BN and not the relationship between PH and BN.
"The basic rule of seat allocation between allied parties in Malaysia is that the seat that has been won will remain in the hands of the incumbent party, while the seat won by the opposing party will be open for negotiation.
"So, BN can actually only get a maximum of five seats in Selangor and three in Penang. However, BN was given more seats, for example, 11 Selangor seats, according to reports.
"This means that PH will give the six areas it currently holds to BN. If MCA or MIC want to contest, Umno will have to share some of the seats that were given to them by PH.
"The fact that MCA and MIC are not contesting means that Umno feels it is more important for itself to win than to give its friends a chance. This is not surprising, and MCA and MIC also accept this reality," he explained.