INTERVIEW | In their attempt to woo Chinese voters in 14th general election, Najib Abdul Razak and MCA have repeatedly reminded the community of the consequence of little or no representation in the cabinet.

In an interview with Malaysiakini, Country Heights Holdings Bhd founder Lee Kim Yew disagreed with caretaker prime minister's warning, saying the cabinet should be the platform to discuss and make decisions on national issues in a colour blind manner.

Lee opined that cabinet members should serve all Malaysians, regardless of their race and political beliefs.

"We are in the 21st century, but do we still want to be party-based? Once you take oath as an MP, your allegiance should be to Malaysia, not to the party anymore," he said, adding that the same should apply to members of the cabinet.

This partisan mindset has to be changed, Lee stressed, as it could eventually degenerate into a racial issue.

To illustrate his point, he recalled how he once told MCA leaders to refrain from taking sides on the criticism of billionaire Robert Kuok along ethnic lines.

He also noted that the issues of Chinese school allocations and the recognition of the Unified Examination Certificate (UEC) should not be turned into racially polarising issues, but rather discussed in Parliament.

On April 27, Najib said that if MCA candidates were rejected in the coming election, then the ruling coalition would not be able to elect Chinese leaders into cabinet.

"We need strong Chinese representation in the government, because if we eliminate Chinese leaders, it will weaken their representation in the government,” he said, urging voters should not make the same “mistake” they did in the 2013 general election.

Then, MCA had decided against taking up cabinet posts due to its poor results in the election, when it won just seven of the 37 parliamentary seats it contested, and 11 of 90 state seats.

The GE13 ‘Chinese tsunami’ more than halved their 2008 haul of 15 parliamentary seats and 31 state seats – with most of the losses coming in Chinese-majority seats.

However, after Dr Chua Soi Lek stepped down as party president, the party, under its new president Liow Tiong Lai, reversed its decision to reject government posts.

Distrust of coalition politics

In the interview, Lee also admitted to a distrust of coalition politics.

"I think Malaysia would be better off if every party is independent," he said, adding that parties can discuss alliances to form a government after the general election.

This is partly why the MCA member of 30 years called for his party to quit BN to regain some of its former lustre.

The longer MCA remains in the coalition, Lee believes, the more compromises it would have to make on issues deemed sensitive.

He also thinks that the party would be better positioned to take on DAP if it were shorn of this limitation, as it has a more solid party structure and machinery.

"MCA has many talents, and we have seen in reports that (some) cried when they were not being fielded.

“If you are an independent party, then you can contest in 111 parliamentary seats out of 222," he said.

If it gained more seats, Lee added, MCA would also have more bargaining power with Umno.

Lee is optimistic that his party will not only regain its importance, but will also gain 15 parliamentary seats, out of the 50 Chinese majority seats nationwide.

The seven parliamentary seats and 11 state seats won by MCA in the last general election in 2013, were mainly mixed seats with Malay majority. 

The party mainly lost in Chinese majority seats.

EARLIER REPORT

1MDB a 'plague' that must be addressed, says tycoon