MCA threatens to kill Barisan Nasional

Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai says MCA would move to dissolve Barisan Nasional or expel former lynchpin Umno if it formalises an alliance with PAS.

(MMO) – Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai claimed MCA would move to dissolve Barisan Nasional or expel former lynchpin Umno if it formalises an alliance with PAS.

The outgoing MCA president said the coalition was built on moderation and it was unacceptable for any component to bring racial and religious extremism into the fold.

Rejecting calls for his party to abandon BN, Liow claimed MCA was entitled to seek Umno’s expulsion or the dissolution of the coalition if the Malay nationalist party insists on partnering with PAS.

“The first choice is to dismiss BN, as it is no longer a racial harmonious coalition. The second choice is to kick Umno out,” he was quoted as saying at the Selangor MCA Convention by the Malaysiakini news portal.

“We (MCA) are a moderate political party, why should we leave BN? Why can’t we expel Umno?”

BN was reduced to just its three founding parties after the rest of the 13-member coalition abandoned it following the general election defeat.

Umno has increasingly turned to PAS for political survival and relevance after the party chose to stick with the status quo that caused it to lose power.

Despite his fiery remarks, Liow said Umno had assured his party that it was only cooperating with PAS and not looking for official links.

PAS supported MCA’s campaign in the Balakong by-election, but did not help as the latter barely kept its deposit.

The two parties are outwardly hostile toward each other owing to fundamental ideological differences, but MCA previously had to put up with Umno’s open trysts with the Islamists that were pushing for hudud and enhanced Shariah punishments.

Umno’s previous role as the mainstay of BN allowed it to dictate matters to others such as MCA, but the coalition’s general election defeat has led the latter to lash out at the Malay nationalist party over past resentments.