MCA secretary-general Datin Paduka Chew Mei Fun (pic) insisted that a major reason why the former ruling coalition has fallen to such lows was the arrogance of leaders such as Nazri. — Picture by Firdaus Latif

KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 26 — MCA demanded Barisan Nasional (BN) remove Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz as its secretary-general today, after he taunted the component for remaining in the coalition it previously considered dead.

MCA secretary-general Datin Paduka Chew Mei Fun insisted that a major reason why the former ruling coalition has fallen to such lows was the arrogance of leaders such as Nazri.

Chew also reminded her BN counterpart that the coalition had been formed by Umno, MCA, and MIC that were later joined by another 10 parties, all of which have since abandoned it.

“In brief, BN does not belong to Umno alone; it is the result of a collective struggle by Umno, MCA, and MIC. It is (also) not the absolute property of Nazri Aziz,” she said in a statement.

Chew recounted incidents she considered evidence of Nazri’s haughtiness, such as the latter’s attack on tycoon Robert Kuok prior to the general election.

Aside from refusing to apologise for insulting Kuok, she said the Umno leader also attended a Chinese New Year celebration wearing black — an inauspicious colour for the Chinese — which Chew said further upset the community that was already pulling away from BN.

She then argued that only the BN supreme council — which has not convened since before the general election — was the only venue to decide MCA’s future in the coalition.

Until then, however, Chew insisted that Nazri’s actions, which she likened to that of a double agent, was intolerable.

Failure to punish Nazri would irreparably harm any remaining cooperation among the three BN founding members, Chew said in an apparent ultimatum to the Umno leadership.

“In short, Nazri cannot be allowed to escape removal from his BN positions”.

Yesterday, Nazri asked MCA why it was still in the BN after its previous criticisms of the coalition and resolution to seek it dissolution.

He further said the coalition effectively considered MCA to no longer be a part of the collective.