The crisis linked to the country's most expensive highway — the Penang Outer Ring Road — highlights complications in co-operation among Barisan Nasional component parties.

Two weeks ago, two MCA state assembly representatives chose to abstain from voting on the motion brought by an opposition representative to defer the RM1.02 billion project. The decision has drawn public calls from other BN component parties, especially Gerakan and Umno, that the duo be removed for breach of discipline.

Umno's supreme council decision and recommendation last Friday that the two be sacked came as a surprise. Only a day before, Umno president and Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad had suggested that the matter be left to MCA to handle.

Even more surprising is that the Umno recommendation was made in the wake of what the party itself has experienced with its own state assembly representatives in Terengganu and Kelantan. Umno has always been against the PAS move to implement hudud laws in the two Malay-majority states.

In 1993, two Umno Kelantan state assembly representatives chose to support the hudud bill tabled by the PAS-led government in the state assembly. And in July this year, three Umno Terengganu state assembly representatives abstained from voting against a similar bill brought by the Terengganu PAS government. No action was taken either by BN or Umno in relation to the behaviour of these five Umno members, although what they did was a breach of discipline.

Gerakan leaders have claimed that the MCA duo must be sacked as their actions are against BN culture. Gerakan also cites precedent against its own assembly representatives in Sabah in 1996. It, however, has chosen not to cite the case of the five Umno representatives in Kelantan and Terengganu.

Such inconsistencies can only make one conclude that Gerakan's repeated calls for the removal of the duo is nothing more than an attempt to prevent the party from losing its grip on the Penang chief ministership, as well as to limit the number of MCA representatives in the state.

There is certainly strong suggestion of a serious power tussle between Gerakan and MCA in Penang. As for Umno, balancing the political power in the Chinese-majority state has always been its game ever since Gerakan was admitted to BN.

The people of Penang may well be pre-occupied with the crisis within BN, but the new highway will remain an unpopular state project. The strength of Gerakan is slowly deteriorating in Penang. At the same time, MCA is losing public trust due to its internal problems.

Once can surely expect opposition parties including Keadilan to gain political advantage from this crisis. The MCA duo are said to be well liked by their constituents. If not handled well, the crisis could have great political costs for BN in Penang, and may even embarrass the nation's future premier, Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, whose political base is in the island state.