Former MCA vice-president Ti Lian Ker has urged the party to decide whether to remain in or quit Barisan Nasional (BN), citing the increasingly cordial relations between UMNO and DAP.
Ti described the alliance as an “empty shell waiting to be cracked”, noting that UMNO and DAP have been observed appearing together at a range of political events. He said this development was a severe blow to MCA and had stirred disappointment among the party’s grassroots, long a key ally of UMNO within BN.
“UMNO and DAP are showing the confidence and arrogance that they can win the next general election with or without MCA or MIC,” Ti wrote on Facebook on Sunday. “It also signals that DAP could replace MCA and MIC, while BN has become only an empty shell waiting to be cracked. This is the UMNO–DAP stance!”
Ti said it was now up to MCA to either repudiate that perception or remain silent, at the risk of losing its political dignity. Drawing a comparison to a card game, he added that every handshake, smile, and flashed camera at UMNO headquarters—followed by DAP leaders’ social-media posts—amounted to a taunt directed at MCA and MIC with an implicit message of “the choice is yours, MCA…”.
The former senator also accused DAP of seeking a closer relationship with UMNO after allegedly nursing jealousy over MCA’s and MIC’s positions within the coalition for more than six decades.
Ti’s remarks were viewed as the latest call from some BN figures for MCA and MIC to reconsider their ties with UMNO. Several MCA leaders have previously voiced unease at the growing UMNO–DAP closeness, which they say clashes with the party’s traditional stance.
The issue intensified after MIC Kedah recently passed a resolution to cooperate with Perikatan Nasional (PN) and did not rule out leaving BN. MIC Kedah, however, said any final decision would be made by the party’s central leadership.
The warming ties between UMNO and DAP attracted wider attention following the formation of the Unity Government at the end of 2022, an arrangement that saw the two erstwhile rivals join the federal administration.
