Tuesday 2 September 2008

Crunch Time for MCA to Remain Electable: Chinese and Malay Voters Reconfirmed Their Verdict in Permatang Pauh

Read here article by Richard Teo in Malaysiakini


Quote:

".... For too long, MCA leaders have remained silent while Umno's racist members lash out and threaten Chinese leaders who vocalised more equitable policies in education and business.

MCA (by remaining in the BN) will die a natural death after the next general election.

This has been confirmed by the by-election in Permatang Pauh, where the majority of the Chinese voted for (Paktan Rakyat) Anwar Ibrahim.

(MCA President) Ong Ka Ting's decision to change the future direction of MCA by joining Pakatan Rakyat would save an otherwise doomed party.

Failure to do this would spell the death of MCA.

- Richard Teo

Excerpts: Read here for more

MCA leaders should by now be aware of the political significance of the March 8 election which swept the Opposition to power in five states.

If there is still any doubt, the Permatang Pauh by-election which gave Pakatan Rakyat’s Anwar Ibrahim a landslide victory should cast aside any reservations of why the non-Malays gave their full support to PKR.

An astute leader would have seen the writing on the wall.

MCA Heading into Oblivion

None of the (MCA) leaders seem to have any idea where the party is heading.

If the current groundswell of discontent among the non-Malays is any indication, MCA would have been history after the 13th General Election.

Therefore it becomes IRRELEVANT and of NO consequence WHO should lead MCA if their intent is to remain in the Barisan National.

MCA (by remaining in the BN) will die a natural death after the next general election.

This has been confirmed by the by-election in Permatang Pauh, where the majority of the Chinese voted for Anwar. And this despite the promise of monetary contributions to Chinese schools. In previous elections, such strategies would have bought the support of the Chinese community.

UMNO's Entrenched Racism Against Chinese and Indians

The Chinese no longer want to play second fiddle to Umno and be merely satisfied with the crumbs they dish out to MCA leaders.

For too long, MCA leaders have remained silent while Umno's racists members lash out and threaten Chinese leaders who vocalised more equitable policies in education and business.

Abandon UMNO to Remain Relevant

Ong Ka Ting, the current President of MCA, would do a great service to the Chinese community by taking the MCA out of the Barisan Nasional and joining the current popular Pakatan Rakyat.

Ong's decision to change the future direction of MCA by joining Pakatan Rakyat would not only save an otherwise doomed party but would rekindle its aspiration to represent the interest of the Chinese community.

Failure to do this would spell the death of MCA as a party representing the Chinese.

Ong Ka Ting would go down in history as a great Chinese leader if he can grasp this opportunity and lead MCA into a new and acceptable direction that would guarantee a brighter future for the Chinese community.

If Ong chooses not to do so, then he will go down in history as the president who could have changed the plight of the Chinese people but chose not to do so.

Pakatan Rakyat Option Prefered by Chinese Voters

In Anwar, they have found a leader who would be fair and equitable to all races guided by the basic principle that need and poverty would supplant the policy of helping along racial lines.

The policy espoused by Pakatan Rakyat is a fair and equitable one. If 70 percent of the poor living in rural areas are Malays then so be it, they would qualify for the bulk of the government’s help.

The policy implemented would be to help 70 percent of the poor , NOT along racial lines but because it so happens that 70 percent of the poor are Malays.

However, the 30 percent of poor Indians and Chinese are also not forgotten.

The policy would automatically extend help to other communities who needs help because of their poverty levels and not because of racial factors.

Such an equitable policy, even though slanted to help the rural Malays more, would be acceptable to ALL races because government assistance is only extended to those who genuinely need help and not to those who are rich and belong to one particular race.

Note: Anwar Ibrahim gave a glimpse of what a government led by him would offer the people.Read here for more
  • Lower corporate and personal income taxes

  • APs will be auction to the highest bidders.

  • A new OPEN tender system consistent with market principles would be introduced to prevent abuse. To honour our international commitment to free trade, all tenders shall be made competitive, open and transparent by 2015.

  • A proper tender process to protect the poor and the marginalised.

  • A PR government would continue affirmative action, but it would NOT be a programme based on RACE.

  • The position of the Malays and the Bumiputras will NOT be compromised. The Malays will not lose. A few Malay companies may lose, but the majority of the Malays will not.

  • Fuel prices will be reduced under PR Government.
Related Article

Getting the Right Mix of MPs to Cross Over for the New PR Federal Government

Read here article "It’s in the arithmetic, stupid " by Raja Petra Kamarudin

Excerpts: Read here for more

(Right now) Pakatan Rakyat has 43 MALAY Members of Parliament opposed to 39 NON-Malays.

Anwar Ibrahim does have his 30 (cross-over MPs). In fact, it is more than 30.

If 30 NON-Malay Members of Parliament cross over to Pakatan Rakyat, and form the new federal government, then it would be 69 non-Malays opposed to only 43 Malays.

Herein lies the problem. He CAN'T afford to form the new federal government with 69 or more non-Malay Members of Parliament and only 43 Malays.

UMNO's Race Card on the New PR Government

Umno would go to town with this and it will ‘prove’ what Umno has been saying these last many months: that the non-Malays have grabbed political power and the Malays have lost political power.

This is the song Umno has been singing since the 8 March 2008 general election. Malay political power had eroded, argues Umno. And once the 30 or more non-Malay Members of Parliament cross over and Pakatan Rakyat forms the new federal government, the Malays will lose political power.

Umno played the race card to the hilt in the run-up to the recent general election.

And it is still doing so until now, as the Umno Bukit Bendera Division Chief has shown. They still refer to Malaysian-born Chinese and Indians as immigrants. They still call the Chinese and Indians ungrateful squatters. They still ask the Chinese and Indians to go back to China and India, though all these people were born in Malaysia and not in any other country.

In a PPP Convention in Melaka, held before the 8 March 2008 general election, the Umno Vice-President and Chief Minister told the 1,000 or so Indians that Umno does not need the non-Malays. They do not even need Sabah and Sarawak, said Ali Rustam.

Ali Rustam was not asked to apologise. Neither was the Umno Bukit Bendera Umno Chief, who Abdullah Badawi said did not really mean what he said. But if I were to say something like that, the police would be in front of my house the very next day and I would be hauled into court and charged for sedition within 24 hours.

Umno knows that the Parliament seats in Peninsular Malaysia are split almost 50:50.

Umno also knows that by just getting at least 30 Members of Parliament from Sabah and Sarawak, or even the 20 from MCA, MIC and Gerakan, to cross over is NOT enough. (Because)that would give Pakatan Rakyat a 43-Malay versus 69-non-Malay federal government.

This will be exactly what Umno wants.

Then they can play up the ‘Malays have lost political power’ race card. And then the May 13 Version 2 would become a reality.

Need for UMNO MPs to Cross Over

(So)Anwar has to be very careful in maintaining the ‘(right)balance’.

He needs some of those MPs from UMNO. He needs at least 15 to 20 Umno Members of Parliament to join another 15 to 20 non-Malay Members of Parliament to cross over so that he can form the new federal government with the RIGHT racial balance.

Then Umno can’t say that the Malays have lost political power. And Umno also can’t use this to fan the sentiments of the Malays and trigger another race riot the likes of what happened on 13 May 1969.

This is not just about forming a new Pakatan Rakyat federal government. This is about denying Umno the opportunity to turn this whole thing into a race issue.

There are many impatient people. They want at least 30 Members of Parliament from Sabah and Sarawak to cross over now (and for) Anwar to tell Umno to go to hell.

But he can’t do that.And Anwar, of all people, knows this.

And that is why he is taking his time about it and is covering all the bases before making his move.

We want Malaysia to move forward into 2009. We do not want to return to 1969. This is the crux of the matter.

Parliamentary Seats in Peninsular Malaysia

The ‘main players’ in Barisan Nasional are:

  • Umno (79 seats) of which 13 are in Sabah

  • MCA (15 seats),

  • MIC (3 seats) and Gerakan (2 seats).

Therefore, in Peninsular Malaysia, Umno has only 66 seats against MCA’s, MIC’s and Gerakan’s 20.

Parliamentary Seats from Sabah and Sarawak

There are 56 Parliament seats in Sabah and Sarawak.

  • Umno Sabah (13)

  • DAP (2).

  • Other component members of Barisan Nasional East Malaysia (41)

    - which include PBB 9Taib Mahmud’s party in Sarawak- 14 seats;

    - SUPP and PRS, both in Sarawak have six seats each;

    - UPKO in Sabah and SPDP in Sarawak have four seats each;

    - PBS in Sabah (3 seats), SAPP in Sabah (2 seats) and

    - PBRS and LDP, both in Sabah, with one seat each

Total 'Hostile' Seats in BN to Fish

If you regard the 13 Umno Sabah seats as ‘component member’ seats, then the total ‘hostile’ seats in East Malaysia (within Barisan Nasional) would be 54.

Add the 20 from MCA, MIC and Gerakan (from Peninsular Malaysia), then Pakatan Rakyat would now have 74 seats to fish from.

And 30 seats are all Pakatan Rakyat needs. So 74 are plenty. And that is assuming the 66 Umno seats in Peninsular Malaysia remain with Barisan Nasional and do not cross over.

But there would be a problem if NONE of the 79 Umno Members of Parliament cross over because Pakatan Rakyat has only 43 Malay Members of Parliament opposed to 39 non-Malays.

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