This article first appeared in The Edge Malaysia Weekly on March 11, 2019 - March 17, 2019

THIS dilly-dallying is not doing Barisan Nasional any good. And for long-time members MCA and MIC, it does not get worse than this. Or does it? Or rather, will it?

Last Friday’s BN meeting was supposed to decide the fate of the coalition — to dissolve or not to dissolve — and address the latest threat by MCA and MIC to move on and explore a new alliance.

And it was the first BN supreme council meeting since the 14th general election.

But for a meeting of such importance, it sure ended in a jiffy. Everything was concluded (including the media conference to announce the outcome) before Umno’s leaders left for Friday prayers.

Acting BN chairman Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan told reporters that the meeting “does not have a consensus to dissolve BN”.

“We are very much intact,” he added.

“Intact” would mean MCA and MIC are still in BN, together with Umno, despite the pre-meeting bravado. Big surprise here? Not really.

We have heard it before — MCA and MIC thinking very seriously of leaving the BN fold following GE14. MCA even took the matter up with its delegates at the recent annual general meeting to get a final decision — to leave or to stay. A simple yes or no was all it needed from the delegates.

But what did they come up with? Ask BN to be dissolved instead.

Then recently, MCA and MIC said they were moving on and exploring a new alliance.

Why? Because of Umno’s “continued silence” on racial remarks by its leaders.

Umno leader and BN secretary-general Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz’s response was blunt: “Walk the talk, go ahead and leave.” Obviously viewing the two parties akin to the boy who cried wolf, the famous fable by Aesop. You know the story regardless if you believe Aesop was a real person or just a name used by another writer.

Political observers, analysts and journalists — many of them, anyway — had always believed MCA and MIC would not carry out their threat.

Senior fellow at the Singapore Institute of International Affairs Dr Oh Ei Sun said MCA “is nothing if it doesn’t cling on to Umno’s optimistic resurgence”.

Analyst Dr Sivamurugan Pandian simply said “I don’t think MIC will leave” while a former MCA Youth leader called it “wayang playing to the Chinese and Indian galleries”.

But to his credit, MCA president Datuk Seri Dr Wee Ka Siong did table the motion for the dissolution of BN. Obviously, MIC did not support it. Hence, the no-consensus element.

For the record, MIC president Tan Sri S A Vigneswaran was quoted by news portal Free Malaysia Today two days before the BN meeting as saying that he and Wee no longer believed BN was committed to multiracialism.

Anyway, according to Mohamad, “Umno and MIC saw no need to dissolve the coalition”.

I would say all that was a “face-saving” exercise for the three parties. We know how Malaysians are big on “saving face”.

A day before the meeting, Mohamad confidently told the media that MCA and MIC “won’t leave because they love BN more”.

Umno needs to portray an intact BN for a Malaysian outlook for the Rantau by-election next month, despite its “marriage” with PAS and the numerous remarks deemed racist.

And need I say who the Umno/BN candidate for Rantau will be?

Face-saving there for Umno.

With Wee tabling the dissolution motion, MCA has some talking points in an effort to get some sort of respect from the Chinese community. Face-saving for MCA.

However, the crux of the matter is, MCA remains in BN, which is helmed by Umno, and by doing so, it will have to work with PAS, which is now married to Umno and seems comfortable with such an arrangement.

Now, that can be sticky for MCA.

But not so for MIC, whose president was quoted again by Free Malaysia Today as saying “there is nothing to be alarmed at if MIC works with PAS and Umno”.

Some face-saving for MIC as he said that before last Friday’s meeting. Even if it is just a little bit.

That is not the only takeaway from the BN meeting.

Nazri apparently has “lost” his BN secretary-general’s post with Mohamad saying his appointment was never formalised.

Nazri was appointed by BN chairman Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi last year, but a few days ago, MCA and MIC came forth to say that the appointment was invalid as it did not fulfil the criterion in the BN constitution, whereby the chairman must inform the supreme council of the appointment.

Apparently, Zahid failed to do that as he is said to have just gone ahead with the announcement.

But for BN to take months to realise this and take action, it can give rise to many a question.

For me, it is, yes, face-saving again. A face-saving grace for Nazri to exit or should I say “to be removed” in a nice manner as his rant has hurt the feelings of non-Malays and made MCA and MIC look small. That resulted in Umno losing more non-Malay support.

Face-saving for MCA and MIC again as at least some of their shouting has not come to nought.

But perhaps Zahid lost face?

So, it is back to Datuk Seri Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor as BN secretary-general as in the words of Mohamad, “he has never resigned nor was he ever be removed”.

But Tengku Adnan is facing corruption charges. He has lost face and is in need of a lot of face-saving.   

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