Saving UMNO Again – DAP Chinese Willing To Vote For UMNO Malays, But Not MCA Chinese

Saving UMNO Again – DAP Chinese Willing To Vote For UMNO Malays, But Not MCA Chinese



Disgraced Malaysian Chinese Association (MCA) reportedly has demanded 10 seats in the upcoming six state elections – Penang, Selangor, Negeri Sembilan, Kedah, Kelantan and Terengganu. Two of those seats are in Penang. Because there’s zero chance of winning any seats in PAS-controlled states Kedah, Kelantan and Terengganu, MCA are targeting Pakatan Harapan-controlled states.



Penang has a total of 40 state seats, of which Pakatan Harapan won 37 in the 2018 General Election. Democratic Action Party (DAP) won 19 seats, People’s Justice Party (PKR) grabbed 14 seats while National Trust Party (Amanah) captured 2 seats and Malaysian United Indigenous Party (Bersatu), which was then part of Pakatan Harapan, also got 2 seats.



Barisan Nasional won two seats, all captured by the United Malays National Organization (UMNO) while other component parties MCA and MIC (Malaysian Indian Congress) were annihilated. PAS Islamist party won one seat. After the 2022 General Election, Barisan Nasional and Pakatan Harapan have formed the Unity Government at the federal level.



Likewise, in Selangor’s 56-seat state assembly, Pakatan Harapan won 40 seats in the 2018 General Election. DAP won 15, PKR grabbed 19 while Amanah captured 6. Bersatu, which was then part of Pakatan Harapan, won 4 seats. Barisan Nasional won 5 seats and others included Pejuang (2), PAS (1), Warisan (1), and PBM (3) through various defections.



In Negeri Sembilan’s 36-seat state assembly, Pakatan Harapan won 20 seats (DAP’s 11, PKR’s 6 and Amanah’s 3). Barisan Nasional won the remaining 16 seats (UMNO’s 15 and MIC’s 1). This means Pakatan Harapan has two-thirds majority in Penang and Selangor, as well as a comfortable simple majority in Negeri Sembilan – even without Barisan Nasional.



It also means with the new powerful alliance between Pakatan Harapan and Barisan Nasional, it will be mission impossible for Opposition Perikatan Nasional (Bersatu and PAS) to snatch any of the states. But the burning question is why should Pakatan Harapan, especially DAP, surrenders “10 safe seats” for MCA – the parasite that had won ZERO seats in those three states?



Yes, it will be incredibly stupid for DAP to give away Chinese-majority seats it had fought so hard over the years to traditional rival MCA just because Pakatan Harapan chairman Anwar Ibrahim and Barisan Nasional chairman Zahid Hamidi decided DAP should sacrifice for the sake of new friendship. If Anwar is hungry for praises, he can always sacrifice his own party PKR quota for MCA.



Alternatively, Zahid can sacrifice UMNO-Malay safe seats for his junior partner MCA. Even if DAP secretary-general Anthony Loke Siew Fook wants to show how magnanimous he or the party is by sacrificing 10 DAP state seats for MCA, his moronic move will definitely backfire. Chinese voters would rather stay at home than being roasted under the hot sun to vote for MCA.



Traditionally, voter turnout during a state election is lower than a national election. So, if the Chinese voters – angry and insulted – decide to teach DAP a lesson by boycotting the party because they were being forced to vote for MCA, all the 10 seats might be lost. It’s one thing to ask the Chinese to vote for UMNO. It’s another thing altogether to ask the Chinese to vote for MCA.



In fact, it’s easier for the Chinese voters to vote for enemy UMNO than to vote for traitor MCA. At the very least, they have a compelling reason to support the Malay nationalist party, which is to stop racist bigot Bersatu and religious extremist PAS. Exactly what is the reason to vote for MCA, the party supposedly established to defend the Chinese but ended up betraying the community?



Besides, MCA is untrustworthy as party president Wee Ka Siong was one of 10 Barisan Nasional traitors who had signed statutory declarations to support racist bigot Muhyiddin Yassin as the prime minister post-2022 election. Till today, Wee is waiting for the right moment to betray Anwar administration again. Wee also constantly condemns Pakatan Harapan to undermine the government.



Any attempt to reward MCA with seats won by DAP will certainly trigger revolt within the Democratic Action Party against the leadership of Anthony Loke. He will be seen as a weak leader who can’t even defend DAP’s territories against the lapdog of UMNO. Crucially, it will set a bad precedent in the future where MCA can demand more seats without lifting a finger.



MCA should be made to contest against DAP to prove its worthiness, and not leeching for safe seats like a shameless parasite. All incumbents should keep their respective seats. After all, MCA does not offer any values in the state elections. In 2018, more than 95% of the Chinese votes went to DAP, leaving the highly unpopular MCA with only 3.83% votes in Selangor and 3.27% votes in Penang.




In the same breath, UMNO should stop being greedy after the results of the November 2022 General Election, where the party won only 26 parliamentary seats, down from 54 in 2018 – its worst performance in history. Already, some UMNO leaders have started demanding for at least half of the state seats in Selangor, including dozens of Pakatan Harapan safe seats.



The parasites argued that since Barisan Nasional and Pakatan Harapan are now part of the Unity Government at the federal level, it only makes sense for Prime Minister Anwar prove his sincerity by giving half of the Selangor seats to UMNO. Some have even warned that the government could collapse if Anwar does not help strengthen UMNO, even if the new seat allocation was unfair.



The funny part is while UMNO greedily demands safe seats and even Chinese votes, at the same time, most of its leaders are against asking their own Malay voters to vote for DAP in the coming state elections. For example, UMNO Supreme Council member Isham Jalil said although the party is in the unity government with DAP, “the heart of UMNO’s grassroots still needs to be preserved”.



In other words, UMNO grassroots are very sensitive species that should be protected, even after Bersatu-Malay and PAS-Malay have slaughtered UMNO-Malay like a pig. Did UMNO grassroots realize Perikatan Nasional had stolen 74 Malay-majority constituencies once belonged to UMNO and will continue to kill UMNO till the party perished, but DAP Chinese are on a mission to save it?



The butchers wishing to wipe out UMNO are two Malay parties called Bersatu and PAS, not Chinese-dominated party DAP. Blaming Mahathir Mohamad for brainwashing UMNO members and grassroots that DAP was anti-Islam and anti-Malay appeared to be a lazy solution. What have UMNO leaders done over the last 6 months to reverse the 60-year-old indoctrination?



To be fair, UMNO leaders like Lokman Noor Adam, who was previously one of the biggest DAP haters, have been actively engaging party members and grassroots on social media, explaining till foaming at the mouth why UMNO and DAP must help each other in the ballot box. Others like Isham Jalil were clearly playing safe by doing nothing – waiting to see which way the wind blows.



True, UMNO and DAP have different ideologies. But desperate times call for desperate measures. Gone were the days when UMNO dominated the political landscape and its members can afford to be arrogant and choosy. The party is under existential threat now. You don’t have 60 years to take your own sweet time thinking about working with DAP.



Actually, DAP does not need UMNO Malays, but the same cannot be said about UMNO. DAP does not contest in Malay-majority seats. However, in Malay-majority seats with not more than 65% Malay votes, the Chinese votes can determine UMNO’s fate. If the Chinese community does not see the incentive to vote for UMNO because it is still fantasizing about past glory, they would stay at home.



UMNO grassroots should stop thinking that DAP or Pakatan Harapan needs them more than they need DAP and Pakatan to the extent they can throw tantrums and threaten the unity government. This is not the first time the Chinese are saving UMNO. The last time UMNO was in crisis and needed the Chinese votes was in the 1999 General Election.



Outraged by Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad’s sacking of Anwar Ibrahim in 1998, which was seen as a political persecution by angry Malays, UMNO was facing the possibility of a major defeat. The premier quickly paid a visit to China and praised the Chinese in Malaysia for helping build the country. Mahathir had also promised to increase the number of Chinese schools.



Barisan Nasional won big – 148 out of 193 seats in the Parliament. UMNO won 72 seats and MCA won 29 seats – its third best performance in history. DAP and Anwar’s party PKR won only 10 and 5 seats respectively. So, the Chinese were not always with DAP. Previously, the majority of the community supported MCA. They are pragmatic and dynamic, and never exclusive to DAP.



It’s hilarious that silly and shallow-minded UMNO grassroots see DAP Chinese as a threat to its Malay power base when the same Chinese were once strong supporters of MCA before 2008. DAP has become very strong today because the ethnic Chinese have shifted their support to the party from the useless and incompetent MCA.