File picture shows MCA Religious harmony bureau chairman Datuk Ti Lian Ker (centre) giving a press conference at party's headquarters in Kuala Lumpur, May 14, 2014. ― Picture by Yap Tzu Ging

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 1 — In an unexpectedly candid overture today, MCA’s Datuk Seri Ti Lian Ker offered political partner Umno “a few tips” on how to help their Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition evolve to face the next general elections.

The Chinese component party’s religious harmony bureau chief said the racial and religious posturing by some Umno leaders have alienated minority voters and welcomed Umno vice-president Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi’s recent reminder to party colleagues to be fair to non-Malays.

To win back support from the non-Malay voter demographic, Ti said Umno leaders must tweak their communal mentality and focus efforts on advancing the BN as a single unit.

“Umno must stop moving in an Umno mindset but move in the spirit of BN because we are standing in the general election as BN,” he said in a statement.

“When components parties lose, we lose as BN. Likewise when Umno candidates won, they win under the banner of BN,” he pointed out.

Ti acknowledged there had been disgruntlement against some Umno representatives in Malay-dominant constituencies who had neglected their minority constituents and sought help from BN component parties only when they needed a multiracial show of force.

“BN must be more BN and less Umno, MCA or MIC, etc. to capture the imagination of new voters and in sync of new politics,” he said.

He also said abrasive statements such as calls for “ketuanan Melayu” may have captured near absolute Malay votes in the 1970s and 1980s but no longer reflect the voting trends of the new millennium where the Malay-vote is split among so many new Malay-based parties that have popped up.

Ti called on Umno to be mindful of the divide, citing PAS’s internal leadership clash between “rural vs urban mentality” led to a split and eventual formation of Parti Amanah Negara.

“Umno has the same divide. For Umno to help component parties, the rural mentality must transform [and] be mindful of the more progressive cosmopolitan and pluralistic electoral terrains,” he said.

Ahmad Zahid had reportedly told Umno delegates when officiating the Sungai Besar Umno division meeting yesterday to place importance in the needs of the non-Malays as BN has always received their support in elections.

He said it was important to keep receiving said support to ensure victory in the coming 14th general elections due in 2018.