Time for Anwar to appoint MCA, MIC to cabinet?

Malaysiakini

a day ago

LETTER | Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim came to power riding a wave of expectation for reform, but long-awaited change has been in short supply.
After Rafizi Ramli's and Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad's resignations from the cabinet, attention has turned to Anwar's next cabinet reshuffle.
Questions about MCA and MIC's current and future direction are frequently raised in both the media and political circles.
Speaking in front of thousands of MIC members at the party's headquarters in 2023, including president SA Vigneswaran, the prime minister had assured that he would look into a request for greater MIC representation in the government.
Anwar said he will also discuss the issue with his deputy, BN chairperson Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, and other party leaders in the coalition government.
However, Zahid's 2022 pledge of cabinet representation for MCA and MIC has not materialised, leading to concerns that this was an unfulfilled promise.
Recent data from former PKR deputy president Rafizi reveals a substantial decline in support for Pakatan Harapan, including PKR, among both Chinese and Indian voters.
Support from the Chinese community for Harapan has halved, dropping from 63 percent to a mere 31 percent.
Similarly, Indian voter support for Harapan has also seen a dramatic decrease, plummeting from 69 percent to 31 percent.
These figures provided by Rafizi, who is known for his data-driven political analysis, indicate a considerable shift in voter sentiment away from the coalition within these key demographic groups.
Leaders from both the MIC and the MCA have voiced strong scepticism regarding Zahid's claims that their parties are not being marginalised.
One MCA leader even dismissed Zahid's assertion as mere 'window dressing', implying it's a superficial attempt to conceal the reality of their diminished influence.
MCA has two MPs - Wee Ka Siong (Ayer Hitam) and Wee Jeck Seng (Tanjung Piai) - while MIC has Tapah MP M Saravanan, who is also the party's deputy president.
Wee previously served as the transport minister, and Saravanan the human resources minister during the administrations of Muhyiddin Yassin and Ismail Sabri Yaakob.
Recently, former MCA vice-president Ti Lian Ker claimed that grassroots dissatisfaction was growing due to MCA being 'trapped' in Umno's politics for too long.
He said many believe Umno has abandoned the founding principles of BN to remain in power through cooperation with DAP, once their staunch enemy.
The fundamental truth is that DAP isn't positioned to become the successor to MCA for Chinese representation or MIC for Indian representation.
Politically, Umno simply cannot justify ceding all Chinese and Indian electoral strongholds solely to DAP.
With Umno struggling to win Malay votes, it still does not realise that without the support of MCA and MIC, it is unlikely for the party to survive beyond GE16.
The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of Malaysiakini.