It is unmistakable. By all standards of reasoning and analysis, both MCA and Gerakan have capitulated completely on the language switch issue in the supreme council of the Umno-dominated Barisan Nasional.

According to Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad who is also Umno president, the council meeting of leaders from all the 14 BN component parties decided yesterday to give '100 percent support' to his party's proposal of teaching Science and Mathematics in English in all primary schools beginning next year.

It was only last Friday that MCA's central committee met and, according to a report in the Umno-controlled New Sunday Times , adopted a position to oppose the language switch proposal.

Gerakan has also been publicly vocal in its opposition to the new policy over the past few months.

Shocking swing

Although the exact process and atmosphere of deliberation in yesterday's BN meet is not fully known, the reported swing in the united position of MCA and Gerakan had certainly shocked and disappointed many members and sympathisers.

A strong sense of betrayal may soon develop and prevail for a long time to come.

These negative reactions and sentiments would not have arisen had both the Chinese-based parties not been perceived to be capable of inducing Umno to back down or compromise on its hardline position.

Over-inflated and unrealistic hopes, once shattered, always breed bitterness, frustration and a sense of betrayal.

It is almost inevitable that top MCA and Gerakan leaders would have to endure widespread public and private criticism from their members and supporters, what more oppositionists.

In particular, their very political and ideological raison d'etre as Chinese representatives, 'protectors' and spokespersons in the BN would be widely questioned.

When perceived to be incapable of effectively representing the legitimate interests of the community they claim to champion, both parties will lose their political identities.

While MCA has no other ideology than to be 'exclusively Chinese', the Chinese-predominated multiethnic Gerakan also appears to have been silenced on liberal issues like democracy, human rights, judicial independence and integrity, etc.

In marketing terms, MCA and Gerakan have lost their 'niche' after yesterday's BN meet. The parties no longer sell anything unique.

The questioning process may imperceptibly but drastically alter the perception and impression on Umno itself and its president-cum-prime-minister-in-waiting, Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.

There are actually two separate issues here. One is certainly and specifically the teaching of Science and Mathematics in English, which is actually technical and technocratic.

Power relations

But a more essential and critical issue would be the general nature of power relations among allies within the BN coalition, especially the sets involving Umno-MCA and Umno-Gerakan.

Although it was never expected that component parties, especially MCA and Gerakan, would enjoy equal or equitable status with Umno, the latter had always given 'face' or apparent dignity to its junior partners for public relations purposes.

However, yesterday's meeting brought an end to this convention. For the Umno president to announce that the support was "100 percent", was a slap in the face for MCA and Gerakan.

Mahathir could have taken a more diplomatic approach by saying that despite constructive and sincere opinions given by the two parties, the majority had in the end supported the even better position taken by Umno.

The premier could have expressed gratitude to both these parties for their frank advice.

For MCA, there is also the issue of being publicly attacked by Umno leaders, including the deputy premier and the party's ideologues in the Umno-controlled dailies over the past few days.

How would MCA which has always prided itself in being the 'electoral saviour' of Umno in the last general election feel and react, is certainly worth observing closely in months to come.

Despite MCA controlling some newspapers like The Star , Nanyang Siang Pau and China Press , it would be very difficult for the party to launch counter-attacks unless it decides to severe ties with Umno once and for all. This is a very remote possibility.

On the other hand, how would top MCA leaders regain their 'face' and show to their supporters, sympathisers and well-wishers that they are men and women of honour and dignity vis-a-vis Umno ?

Seen from these perspectives, the public credibility and legitimacy of MCA and Gerakan for that matter are certainly under the most severe test and challenge.

Internal problem

MCA also has another problem, its internal rift that culminated in the party splitting into 'Team A' and 'Team B'.

According to an Oct 21 report in the New Straits Times , Pahang Menteri Besar and state Umno chief Adnan Yaakob was quoted as saying that Pahang MCA had expressed support for the language switch in a state BN meeting.

Among those who attended the meeting was Chan Kong Choy a prominent Team B leader.

However, Chinese dailies Nanyang Siang Pau and Sin Chew Jit Poh quoted Chan two days later as saying that the state MCA did not express support for the switch as claimed.

According to him, the state division had only "agreed to hand the issue over to the Cabinet for a decision."

Chan is a proteg of deputy president, Lim Ah Lek, the leader of Team B.

His statement can be construed as an attempt to distance himself and his faction from the "unanimous" decision made by the MCA CC last Friday, or to move closer to Umno's position. The Cabinet is also Umno-dominated.

In fact, the presence of top Team B leaders like Lim Ah Lek and vice-president Chua Jui Meng in an Oct 9 gathering to show support for the premier, which saw the conspicuous absence of MCA Team A, including party president Dr Ling Liong Sik and Gerakan leaders, was rather illuminating.

Lim and Chua were absent from the MCA CC meeting. This, according to New Sunday Times , was because the duo were abroad at separate locations.

However, Lim was present at yesterday's BN meet.

Using dissidents

If it is true that Team B supported Umno's proposal, however tacit or covert, it would mean that Umno has decided to use dissidents in MCA to counterbalance the MCA-Gerakan alliance, just as it once used Gerakan to check MCA.

Besides its apparent alliance with Gerakan, does Ling's MCA have any more ways of standing its ground?

Does it have any more willpower and courage to fight back and restore its public credibility and honour as the second largest ruling party?

According to a report in Nanyang Siang Pau today, the Federation of Chinese Assembly Halls (Hua Zong) and Penang MCA have come out in support of the "unanimous" decision reached at the MCA CC meeting last Friday.

Will more support and solidarity come from within and outside the party after Mahathir announced that Umno's position gained "100 percent" support within the ruling coalition?

Will Gerakan stand by MCA at this critical moment? Whither MCA and Gerakan?

JAMES WONG WING ON, chief analyst of Strategic Analysis Malaysia , is a former Member of Parliament (1990-1995) and a former columnist for the Sin Chew Jit Poh Chinese daily. He read political science and economics at the Monash University in Melbourne, Australia. While in Sin Chew , he and a team of journalists won the top awards of Malaysian Press Institute (MPI) for 1998 and 1999.