Malaysiakini

01 February 2002

The MCA president trembles on the knife's edge

CHIAROSCURO
MGG Pillai

The MCA president, Dato' Seri Ling Liong Sik's arrogant self-confidence is tattered. The absolute support he thought he had of the Prime Minister, Dato' Seri Mahathir Mohamed is not absolute any more. The Chinese community, worried that its voice is muted under Dr Ling, make their own deals with Dr Mahathir. The unkindest cut of all is Dr Mahathir's regular meetings with the forces of the MCA deputy president, Dato' Seri Lim Ah Lek. So, fresh from his problems over the MCA purchase of the Nanyang group of newspapers, one which landed the MCA with debt it cannot repay, he is forced to make the changes he would not because they came from the Lim Ah Lek faction.

But Dr Mahathir, after meeting them, have demanded, for instance, that Dr Ling clean up his membership list to remove the phantom members. Dr Ling promises it in public, and, in an about-turn, now wants clean elections. He is prepared to set up an independent committee to supervise it. As he did not want when he bought the newspapers.

Why? The Indera Kayangan byelections. For Dr Ling had to concede ground to have his way -- in the choice of candidate and in how the campaign is run. Dr Mahathir all but ordered him to: the Lim Ah Lek faction demanded it for a unified MCA campaigning team. It ensured the MCA's relevance in Malaysian politics and the National Front (BN) declined, perhaps irrevocably. The MCA president clings to office and would not leave long after his sell-by date until he is forced out. It is how every MCA president left office.

Dr Mahathir skewered the works when he appointed his own Chinese political secretary; that he does not speak Chinese and unknown in the Chinese community adds to the MCA's frustrations: the Chinese community views it as loss of influence more than of face, and blames Dr Ling.

UMNO could not bring the Chinese to its knees as resolutely as the MCA has. Adding to the community's frustrations is the declining birth rate: one demographic study suggests that the Chinese would be only 26 per cent, from the present 33, by 2010. The MCA's relevance in national politics must therefore decline even faster. Unless it revamps itself to have leaders there to look after the community's interest and not their own. Dr Ling began with good intentions, but the long years in office and his imperial presidency has chipped away at Chinese influence in government. When he does not allow issues to be discussed, and treats every criticism of his policies as an attack on him -- Dr Mahathir suffers from it too -- something must give.

A counter-attack is now seen. At the MCA elections later this year, Dr Ling's challenger for president was assumed to be the health minister and MCA vice-president, Dato' Seri Chua Jui Meng. Dr Ling would have won that with ease. A new name is thrown into the ring: the MCA deputy president, Dato' Seri Lim Ah Lek. He is popular, left his Cabinet post on principle, and accuses Dr Ling of not keeping his side of the bargain and resign too. Now, he is nominated by his Bentong MCA division. He is the coy nominee, but he cannot now back down. The MCA is split, between his forces and of Dr Ling's, and reflected in the MCA vote on buying the newspapers. The pressure is on Dr Ling. He outstayed his welcome in the MCA, in the cabinet, and as a Chinese adviser to Dr Mahathir.

Malaysian politics unfortunately is reduced to the politics of its leaders, not of the communities they represent. Patronage plays a large part, both in the giving and in the receiving. UMNO faces a crisis because its president, Dr Mahathir, has transformed it into his satrap. So every party in Malaysia but PAS and Parti Rakyat Malaysia (PRM). The leaders change only when they are forced out of office. Political parties demand much from its members, but they do not have the right to act in conscience or question party policies or leaders. When emotions are bottled up, change comes only in violence.

The violence that eruped when the former deputy prime minister, Dato' Seri Anwar Ibrahim, was sacked from office and expelled from UMNO was in anger and frustration that UMNO does not allow a discussion of different points of view. Every political party adopts it. So, what happened this week in Kota Kinabalu when the BN party, Parti Bersatu Rakyat Malaysia (PBRS), split into the open with rival claimants for the party presidency.

Which is why party presidents demand to be returned unopposed at party elections. The BN cannot afford another party election to end like it. So, the pressure is on Dr Ling to withdraw. His future is flawed if he is not returned with a convincing majority. As it stands now, he cannot. These messy challengers to be leader nullifies the party's commitment to principle. In every political party, succession, not principle, takes centre stage.