MCA vice-president Datuk Seri Ti Lian Ker (right) and MIC information chief R. Thinalan.
PETALING JAYA: MCA and MIC have always stood by Umno in Barisan Nasional, leaders from the two parties say while denouncing Datuk Lokman Noor Adam’s remarks on a purported “betrayal”.
They also reminded the Umno supreme council member of the loyalty of the two parties to the coalition since the early days.
MCA vice-president Datuk Seri Ti Lian Ker said the party has always been loyal to Barisan.
He noted that the party had rescued Barisan and Umno from being dissolved in 1990 and also from the Reformasi attacks during the 10th General Election (GE10) in 1999.
“Lokman should not ride on his waning popularity by attacking Barisan component parties,” he said in a Facebook post Thursday (June 22).
“As long as MCA has been in the Barisan family, it has practiced the politics of moderation and respected diversity. Does Lokman Adam want MCA to be an extremist and chauvinistic party to win votes, to the point of sacrificing harmony within Malaysia’s multicultural society?” he asked.
He added that Umno’s internal politics have also led to the division in support among Malay voters with the support now split between Umno, PAS, PKR, Bersatu, Warisan and Pejuang among others.
He noted that some of these parties were established by former Umno leaders such as Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah, Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin and Datuk Seri Shafie Apdal.
“DAP had used and rode on these Umno personalities to a point where it had not only successfully monopolised Chinese and Indian votes, but also added on the support of Malay voters who were staunch and traditional Barisan supporters,” he said.
Meanwhile, MIC information chief Thinalan Rajagopalu said in a statement that Lokman’s claims were factually incorrect and irrational.
He said the party had never left the coalition since the Alliance days in 1952.
“When Barisan faced good or bad political scenarios, we stood firmly with Umno and MCA and our other component party members and did not jump like a frog like Lokman,” he said of Lokman who was formerly a PKR member.
“Aren’t MIC and MCA still with Barisan today? Have we asked for any positions to continue our support for Barisan?
"MIC did not receive a single post whereas Umno, which received all the positions in government and GLCs, wants to point fingers on the component party?” he asked.
Thinalan added that for MIC and MCA, Barisan was a family they belonged to.
“It is difficult to expect the same familial ties from you, who is a former PKR member who was sacked,” he added.
Thinalan noted that it was amusing that political frogs are pointing fingers at others.
He said until 2007, MIC had contributed fully to the coalition until a few Umno members acted in a way that hurt the sentiments of the Indians.
“MIC was labeled as Umno’s slave and Umno did not take any action to correct the situation until Datuk Seri Najib Razak became Prime Minister,” he said.
He said this was when the problems that had been abandoned were resolved.
“Previously, Umno was getting all the opportunities, even now Umno is the one getting all the opportunities, but MIC and MCA are being blamed?” Thinalan asked.
He said the statement that MIC had never contributed to Barisan’s victory was inaccurate as the party had won seats in the Melaka and Johor state polls.
He said the people’s perception will not change if such insensitive statements are made by leaders such as Lokman.
He said he can only hope that Lokman will be clear on Barisan’s history and understand the component parties' commitment instead of making irresponsible remarks.
In an interview with a news portal recently, Lokman had said that the leaders of the two parties were the earliest to betray Umno by signing the statutory declaration in support of Muhyiddin as prime minister.
MCA had explained previously that following the GE15 results on Nov 20, several senior Barisan leaders informed MCA that the coalition should stick with Perikatan to form the Federal Government.
This was based on Barisan’s stance prior to GE15, which was "No DAP, No Anwar".
However, in a Barisan meeting, it was decided that the coalition would stay neutral and be part of the Opposition and the SDs were retracted.
