Yap Pian Hon, a three-term MCA former vice-president said while he does not object to the decision, it should be accompanied by “a very strong strategy” in its campaign to get support in the DAP stronghold.
He said while Balakong is predominantly Chinese, some 40% are Malay and Indian voters, many of whom are BN supporters who might think twice now that the candidate was no longer representing Umno and MIC.
“We are not sure of how they would react, and that would affect whether to continue supporting the MCA as ‘friends’ from the same coalition.
“How does the leadership plan to go into these areas on their own should Umno and MIC supporters end up not helping them? This could result in a greater setback than the recent general election,” he said.
In the May polls, MCA’s Lim Chin Wah only got some 10% of the votes (5,784), losing to the late DAP incumbent Eddie Ng Tien Chee, who won with a whopping majority of 35,538 votes.
MCA president Liow Tiong Lai said yesterday party leaders decided not to use the BN logo, and would instead use the blue-and-yellow “star” logo.
Liow said it was part of “internal reforms” following MCA’s disastrous performance in the elections.
It will be the first time MCA, which has been part of BN since the coalition’s inception, is contesting an election under its own logo.
Yap said the decision was a message that the BN only exists in name.
“This could be a part of the new leadership’s way of telling the public that they are new leaders who are moving towards a more independent stand within the coalition,” he told FMT.
But he said it remained to be seen whether MCA would get support by detaching itself from BN.
A former state assemblyman from MCA said the party was “testing the waters” in the new political landscape, adding that the leadership was convinced that their defeat in the by-election was a foregone conclusion.
“They already know they are going to lose, therefore they have nothing to lose,” said former Subang Jaya rep Lee Hwa Beng.
He agreed with Yap that the party had forgotten that it needed non-Chinese support as the Chinese were “deeply in love with DAP”.
“Non-Chinese voters make up a huge percentage in Balakong,” he added.
MCA alongside Umno and MIC are the three parties which now make up the BN, after several component parties left the coalition in the wake of its defeat in the May polls.
Lee said talk of MCA leaving BN was ill-timed as the party was no match for DAP in terms of support from Chinese voters.
“The Chinese are fully behind DAP. But this love may not last long, so they should just wait for the right time,” he added.