Muhyiddin Yassin's announcement that his party Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu) will only accept bumiputera membership shows it has failed in bringing progressive ideas, said MCA central committee member Ti Lian Ker.

"I guess we cannot depend on these 'old men' to bring the nation forward on a more progressive mode. To them it is all about political revenge and vindictive," Ti said in a statement.

Ti, who is an office bearer in a Chinese-only party, added that Malaysians are "tired of old politics of divide and rule along lines of race and religion".

He said the offer to make non-bumiputera associate members and appoint them into positions in the party is insufficient.

"The non-bumiputera will be a sideshow limited to playing second fiddle or a secondary roles. It is sad and pathetic to think that we have actually come to this level whereby leaders unashamedly play on the race card and discriminate others by race by reducing them to mere associate members.

"If this is not racist, I wonder what is?" he asks.

He said this is different from the BN coalition, which despite made up of several race-based party, is a multiracial coalition with a 1Malaysia consensus.

Under fire for the bumiputera-only membership criteria, Bersatu pro-tem committee member Syed Saddiq Abdul Rahman said the party is not "purely race-based" but is a "compromise model".

This "compromise", was however, rubbished by MIC president Dr S Subramaniam.

"The two types of membership, one with rights and the other without - this means there is discrimination based on race. From the beginning, the party is practising discrimination.

"So, if non-bumiputera were to join, they would, from the very start, be treated as second class members," Subramaniam, who is also health minister, told a press conference last night.

"So why should they be members of that party? It is better that they don't join, better come join us in MIC," Subramaniam said.

He said this after launching the national-level commemoration of the World Blood Donors Day 2016 at a hotel in Kuala Lumpur.

Muhyiddin yesterday revealed that while the party would be open to all races, non-Malays could only join as associate members who cannot contest for any position or vote in the party leadership elections.

'Decisions of convenience always in politics'

Asked whether it was hypocritical for Harapan parties to support the perceived discrimination, Subramaniam said: "In politics there are always decisions of convenience.

"I don't expect them to make decisions based on a moral basis. They will make decisions based on what is good for them, with no concern whether it is right or wrong."

Commenting further, Subramaniam described the new party's cooperation with Pakatan Harapan as yet another "experiment" for the federal opposition coalition.

"We have seen this happen before, when DAP and PAS tried to work together… they fought like cats and dogs.

“And so this is another new experiment (for the opposition). I think Malaysians would now be more mature in making their decisions," he said, adding that the new party was not likely to have much impact on BN.

Former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad will act as the new party's chairperson. His son Mukhriz, who is the former Kedah menteri besar, has been named as its vice-president.

Aside from Muhyiddin, Mahathir and Mukhriz, other party committee members include Gabungan Ketua Cawangan Malaysia president Kamarul Azman Habibur Rahman, former Langkawi Wanita Umno leader Anina Saadudin, former Bendang Baru Umno Youth chief Akhramsyah Sanusi and student group Challenger leader Syed Saddiq.