BN needs an overhaul to stay relevant

S HARIKRISHNAN

Barisan Nasional (BN), which ruled the country politically for 60-years until its fall from grace in 2018, is currently in complete limbo after losing support of Malaysian voters and internal bickering among component parties.

The grand coalition of political parties, which at its heyday had 13 component parties made up of various race, religion and ethnicity, now consists a mere four parties – Umno, MCA, MIC and PBRS and this too is heading for a split.

Why did this happen and why nothing was done to arrest its voter support decline since 2018? The answer to this question only points to weak leadership among all the four political parties currently in the BN.

The coalition was contended to hitch a ride with other political blocks over the last 8 years so much so that it had forgotten that the peoples support was the best way to gain political power. It choose to piggy-back on others political parties such as Pakatan Harapan to remain in the seat of power.

And now the glaring weakness shows, which is, there are no credible, effective and efficient leaders helming these component parties starting with Umno president and BN chairman Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi.

Zahid took helm of Umno in 2018 and the party’s voter base has been on the downtrend since. Although Umno politicians know of this, no effort has been put forth to turn the situation around due to Zahid’s iron grip on the party and its leadership, meaning the Umno supreme council.

His decisions on pertinent matters were made to appease PH and Umno’s “Malayness” weaned over the years causing it to lose support from the majority Malays voters who were once ardent supporters of Umno and BN.

Zahid’s move not to support representatives from MCA and MIC to be included in Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim cabinet further fuelled fire in the BN, which was once the oldest ruling political party in the world.

He wanted Umno to be exclusive in the cabinet with seven ministers and all of them were his allies in Umno. With the ministerial positions, none of them were willing to show voters that they were there to defend the rights of the Malays. The appointments also meant that Zahid would solidify his position in Umno.

Then comes MCA, which has two parliamentary seats to show. Its current president Datuk Seri Wee Ka Siong also took helm of the Chinese based political party in 2018. Wee has been vocal on issues but the party’s move to capture lost Chinese voters almost seems invisible.

Making oneself heard is one thing, winning the hearts and minds of voters is another and this is where MCA is caught.

Without power it should have turned itself into the watchdog of the Malaysian Chinese community but it has so far failed. PH’s decline in Chinese support is not due to MCA but due to dissatisfaction of Chinese voters against the ruling PH and its component party DAP, once a fierce proponent of the community.

The decline in PH’s Chinese support was evident at the recently concluded Sabah state elections.

MIC, which has only one elected representative, on the other hand is in the dark about his own political future. One minute it says it wants to leave the BN, the next day it says it has not made any decision on the matter.

The perception among Indian voters is that the party is disillusioned with its president Tan Sri SA Vigneswaran taking the lead. It has so far done nothing concrete to harness Indian votes which left the BN in 2018.

Vigneswaran who had served as the senate president formerly also took over the party in 2018 and Indian voter perception is that it is a “closed and exclusive” party only catering for certain segment of the Indian community.

Although MIC has been vocal in several Indian related issues, it has yet to make any inroads into the hearts and minds of Indians voters due to rhetoric statements and inability to penetrate the trust of Indian voters.

With these leaders at the driving seat of their respective parties, it is hard to see BN gaining a sizeable portion of Malaysian voters to be a force to be reckoned with at the next general election expected in 2-years.

If BN and its second echelon of leaders want to ensure the coalition’s future in the country’s political landscape in 2028, they should stand up and be counted. Bitter medicine taken now will make you feel better in the future.

They should bite the bullet, put the heads on the chopping board and be bold to ask the leadership of all these three component parties to step aside so that the next batch of leaders can prepare their respective parties for 2028.

Fresh faces with new ideas and approaches are sorely needed among BN component party leaders for the coalition to survive the country’s new political scenario.