Game over for MCA & MIC?
Ti Lian Ker
This is not a coincidence. It Is a warning.
It is not coincidental that BN chairman Datuk Seri Zahid Hamidi warned component parties “not to regret leaving BN because they will not be accepted back” when officiating the Indian Progressive Front (IPF) general assembly today.
While this warning was purportedly aimed at MIC, it came simultaneously with Zahid dismissing MCA President Wee Ka Siong’s public warning that MCA would leave BN if Umno worked with DAP in the next general election.
When Wee Ka Siong issued that warning at MCA’s AGM, Umno Supreme Council member Fuad Zakarshi immediately responded:
“No need to wait — Umno will work with DAP in GE16!”
That may appear to be a personal remark. But in Umno politics, no one “sai lang” and pushes all their chips into the middle without clearance from the boss. Let’s not pretend otherwise.
The message was unmistakable.
MCA may still talk tough today, but when push comes to shove, it will not roar like a Lion King. It will exit BN sheepishly — if it exits at all.
Zahid’s warning was never meant for MIC alone when he said:
“The political landscape will change — I am confident it will change — because within the next 24 months leading up to the 16th general election, many things can happen and are almost certain to happen.
So I say this: do not regret it if decisions are not made in line with changes in the political landscape.”
This was a pre-emptive strike.
Now that the Cabinet reshuffle has been announced — and both MCA and MIC are excluded — the question is unavoidable:
Will MCA and MIC wait to be booted out?
Be shoved aside?
Or leave with what little dignity remains?
MIC has already played its last card.
Umno, on the other hand, has revealed its third and fourth cards — while keeping the final card face down: continuing cooperation with DAP into GE16.
MCA, meanwhile, is still sitting at the table — clutching its chips — with no cards in hand in this political poker game.
Let us be clear about what happened next.
PMX reportedly offered MIC one ministerial post and one ambassadorial position.
The offer did not collapse because MIC rejected it.
It stalled because of a roadblock from the BN Chairman — a chairman who was then publicly called a liar.
And while MIC was stalled and MCA sidelined, DAP quietly emerged as the real winner.
By successfully blocking MIC’s inclusion in the Cabinet, DAP consolidated its dominance.
MCA, meanwhile, suffered collateral damage — left outside, powerless, voiceless, and humiliated.
Was this an accident?
Or a calculated political checkmate?
The reality is harsh:
- MIC was used as a bargaining chip.
- MCA was rendered irrelevant without a fight.
BN leadership now stands exposed — weak, divided, and directionless.
Yes, BN won six seats in Sabah — but any momentum was immediately squandered by public infighting and humiliation of its own partners.
DAP, in contrast, lost all eight seats it contested — yet still emerged victorious.
Why?
Because DAP achieved its real objective: excluding MCA and MIC from power — without needing to say much publicly.
DAP wins.
This episode proves one thing beyond doubt: Cabinet appointments are no longer about representation, fairness, or mandate.
They are about leverage.
About dispensability.
About who can be sidelined without consequence.
If parties cannot even secure dignity for themselves, how can they claim to protect the dignity of their communities?
Zahid may have “charted the political course” decisively — but he did so at the cost of sacrificing BN itself.
What comes next is already obvious.
Politics is about power.
And in this round, the balance of power is painfully clear.
Sayonara?
Ti Lian Ker is Kuantan MCA division chief and former deputy national unity minister.