MCA Youth chief Wee Ka Siong today took his shot at DAP calling it “the real practitioner of racial politics” that will cause the country to “plunge into an abyss of racial polarisation”.

NONE Wee ( right ), who is also deputy education minister, joined the cacophony of BN members who have labelled the opposition party “racist” ever since the latter won 12 state seats at the Sarawak election on April 16.

“DAP is a racist party. What DAP has done is that it has undoubtedly pushed the Chinese community towards the opposition on the pretext of a two-party system.

“This will cause our country to spiral downwards towards the abyss of racial polarisation,” said Wee is a statement today.

He was sheilding what he called MCA’s “collective decision to stay out of the government at every level from the federal, state and as village chiefs and even hospital board of visitors should MCA’s outing at the 13th general elections be worse than 2008’s,” against DAP’s fierce criticism .

Wee said that decision had been taken “to respect the spirit of democracy, of respecting the voters’ choice”.

Indignant about being 'replaced'?

The deputy minister took offence at DAP deputy treasurer and Taiping MP Nga Kor Ming’s claim that the Chinese need not worry about lacking representation in government, should the opposition's win in the next  polls gives birth to a two-party system.

NONE According to Wee, Nga ( left ) had said in such a scenario, DAP and PKR’s Chinese representatives would effectively replace Gerakan and MCA so the situation that MCA had raised to Chinese voters about would not arise.

“DAP always claims that it is a multi-racial party. But on the other hand, DAP intends to replace MCA and become the Chinese representative in the country. This clearly reveals that DAP is none other than a racist party,” concluded Wee.

The youth chief of BN’s second largest component party and a Chinese party, pointed out that Nga was being racist for saying that “when PKR was in power in Perak, they had six Chinese exco members but now under the BN, there is only one Chinese exco member”.

“These words are spoken by a leader who says he is from a multi-racial party. What self-contradiction!” said Wee.

Earlier in the fracas, DAP had pointed out that while MCA’s party membership was exclusively for the Chinese, DAP did not restrict its membership by race, nor was its spectacular haul at the Sarawak polls the result of purely Chinese support .

Lim brushes off MCA’s attacks

In an immediate reaction, DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng said that his party would not be distracted by MCA’s “personal attacks”.

NONE Lim, who is also Penang chief minister, said the attacks were to hide MCA’s flaws and to cover up its defects.

“Even though MCA is a chauvinistic Chinese party, MCA does not even defend the rights and interests of the Chinese,” he said.

“History has proven that MCA is only interested in personal enrichment, pursuing positions and posts at the expense of principles and people’s rights.”

Lim said that MCA leaders should quit the cabinet now instead of threatening to do so in the next general election should the party fare worse that it did in 2008.

“If MCA claims they are not obsessed by the perks and privileges of office, why do MCA leaders not leave cabinet now?

“There is no reason for the sole MCA state exco member in Perak and Negeri Sembilan to cling on to their posts when MCA was totally wiped out in elections.”

Lim described MCA’s threat to quit the cabinet as a “political ploy” to frighten voters to support MCA.

“Voters are now mature and would not be easily frightened or deceived because they can see that MCA now exists merely to serve Umno in exchange for positions and posts.”