Ivanpal Grewal Singh, the political secretary to Gerakan president Mah Siew Keong, told FMT the move would bring about a philosophical shift in the Malaysian political landscape.

It might also, somewhere in the future, lead to the merger of Gerakan and MCA, which would then provide strong competition to the DAP, he added.

“Gerakan has always said that we want more parties to be multiracial, so we welcome this move.

“But the main point is that if the MCA opens up its membership to other races, it will encourage other parties to do the same.

“The end result, who knows, may be the merger of all BN component parties into a single party that fights for all races, and that has always been Gerakan’s objective.”

Independent political analyst Khoo Kay Peng, on the other hand, questioned if the transition would be possible, especially as MCA is a deeply Chinese-rooted party.

“Imagine Umno opening up its membership to non-Malays. It will be very difficult. But MCA’s statement is very bold and will work as a signal to other BN component parties to do the same.

“Perhaps, it will even lead to a new BN alliance 2.0, where all its components are merged into a single political party where all races are embraced,” he told FMT.

Unlike Ivanpal, Khoo doubted that the MCA, just by changing its composition, would affect DAP much. This, he explained, was because MCA had always been a strong competitor to DAP until 2008.

“It’s about whether BN can reform itself, as the voting trend is no longer about Chinese or non-Chinese. It’s about urban and rural voters.

“There are a lot of Malay majority urban areas that have fallen into the hands of the DAP. Even in Johor where most of its voters are Malays, the Gelang Patah constituency ended up with the DAP.

“The voting trend is no longer race-specific, but is now based on policies and effectiveness,” he added.