Barisan Nasional secretary-general Mohamed Rahmat (photo) today warned component parties MCA and Gerakan to bury their hatchets or pay a high price.

Speaking at a media conference at the BN headquarters in Kuala Lumpur, he advised the two Chinese component parties to respect each other.

He also urged MCA not to undermine Gerakan which has been given the mandate to run the Penang state.

Mohamed added that BN has been practising power sharing among the various races since its inception and this was proven to be a winning formula.

"Both MCA and Gerakan must keep in mind that Umno has given way for a Chinese component party to run the state (Penang) despite securing the most state seats (in the 1999 general election)

"The conflict between them must be stopped because this will only weaken Barisan Nasional," he stressed.

Party-hopping

Reminding the 14 component parties that the next general election was around the corner, he said they must be aware of the global political scenario in the new millennium which saw many ruling parties being rejected by the people.

"The recent example is in Kenya where the party which brought independence and ruled the country for more than 40 years was rejected by its own people. This may be repeated again (elsewhere)," he warned.

He said it is possible that the conflict would bring down the BN government in Penang which was once ruled by the opposition.

Mohamed also touched on the problem of intra-BN party-hopping which could weaken the ruling front itself.

"This (weakening of BN) has happened in Sabah because there were so many party members hopping to other parties," he added.

The time has therefore come for BN to review its constitution, Mohamed revealed.

For instance, he explained, those who wish to change parties must bring the matter up for BN's consideration in order to avoid conflicts.

Strained ties

Ties between MCA and Gerakan have been strained for several decades, especially over control of Penang.

In November, another controversy erupted between the two parties when MCA state assembly representatives in Penang Lim Boo Chang (far left) (Dato Keramat) and Tan Cheng Liang (left) (Jawi) abstained from voting on a DAP-led motion to defer the controversial Penang Outer Ring Road (Porr) project in the state assembly.

Their abstention evoked the fury of several state and federal leaders, including BN chairperson and Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad, who called for disciplinary action on the 'errant' members.

Subsequently the duo's party memberships were suspended indefinitely.

Asked to comment on the matter, Mohamed said their fate will be decided at the BN supreme council meeting next Tuesday.

He said the BN headquarters had received a letter from the MCA over the action taken against the duo.

The matter is not resolved until a decision is made next Tuesday despite MCA claiming that it had been resolved following the suspension, stressed Mohamed.

Lim was formerly with Gerakan but hopped to MCA after the last general election.