The electoral prospects of MCA and MIC remain closely linked to Umno’s strength and their cooperation within Barisan Nasional (BN), according to an analyst following MCA’s performance in the Negeri Sembilan state election.
Azmi Hassan of Akademi Nusantara said MCA’s victory in two seats demonstrated how BN’s component parties could benefit when the coalition remained politically strong.
He pointed to Siow Kong Choon’s victory in Chennah over DAP secretary-general Loke Siew Fook as evidence that MCA could perform well when backed by BN’s overall electoral strength.
Azmi described MCA’s performance as encouraging, noting that the party won two of the seven seats it contested, including what he described as “giant-killing” victories in Chennah and Repah.
He said about 67% of Chennah’s voters are Malays and the constituency recorded one of the highest voter turnouts, suggesting strong Malay support for BN contributed significantly to MCA’s success.
According to him, the results showed that when Umno and BN were strong, MCA and MIC also stood to benefit.
BN should retain seat-sharing formula
In Chennah, Siow regained the seat for MCA by defeating Loke, who had represented the constituency for three consecutive terms, with a majority of 688 votes.
In Repah, Koh Kim Swee reclaimed the seat for MCA after defeating four-term DAP assemblyman Veerapan Superamaniam by a 444-vote majority.
Azmi said BN should maintain its existing seat allocation formula among Umno, MCA and MIC for the upcoming Melaka state election.
Analysts urge cautious interpretation
Syaza Shukri of International Islamic University Malaysia cautioned against interpreting MCA’s performance as a full political revival.
She said winning two out of seven seats did not indicate that MCA had regained its former strength, but suggested the party remained capable of attracting support in mixed constituencies.
However, she said the Chennah result was significant because it showed that non-Malay voters could no longer be regarded as a guaranteed support base for Pakatan Harapan (PH), even in a constituency previously held by Loke for three terms.
Syaza acknowledged that MCA’s victory was supported by Malay votes backing BN, but said DAP should no longer assume it could automatically rely on non-Malay voters.
On MIC’s performance, she said defeats in Seremban Jaya and Sri Tanjung were widely expected because both seats had long been regarded as DAP strongholds.
She added that MCA outperformed MIC because its campaign presented a clearer narrative focused on challenging DAP, while MIC concentrated on convincing Indian voters of its continued relevance.
Syaza said MCA should now strengthen its policy agenda and constituency service instead of relying solely on anti-DAP sentiment, while MIC should reassess its support among Indian voters and field candidates with stronger electoral prospects.
