Soap Opera Nasional: Umno, PAS and MCA

Umno has no desire to see Perikatan Nasional (PN) secure a sweeping victory in the Nov 14 Melaka election — a dominant PAS would immediately demand the chief minister’s post.

Instead, Umno’s actual strategy is to lock down its own 21 safe seats and remain the single largest bloc.

Leaving the crumbs to PAS and the wider PN alliance is just a temporary transaction to keep the peace, even if it means throwing traditional partners under the bus.

Umno’s recent political matchmaking has reached a level of high drama that puts the best Malay soap operas to shame.

The latest episode of Jodohku Bersama PAS (My Soulmate, PAS) has left the Barisan Nasional (BN) household in complete disarray, culminating in a dramatic walkout led by MCA president Wee Ka Siong on Oct 24, 2026.

For decades, Umno, MCA, and MIC operated like an old married couple — mostly ignoring each other but staying together for the sake of the assets.

But Umno’s recent, drooling infatuation with PAS has turned BN into a chaotic reality TV dating show. Umno’s eagerness to jump into bed with the Islamist party has left MCA sitting alone in the corner with a cold cup of tea, wondering why decades of loyalty were traded for a green banner.

A jilted partner

The fallout of this political midlife crisis was on full display at the Melaka state election candidate announcement.

MCA, which painstakingly won two seats (Klebang and Machap Jaya) in 2021, arrived only to find other promised seats gifted to PAS and its allies without so much as a WhatsApp text.

In response, Wee Ka Siong did the only logical thing a jilted partner could do — he led a dramatic walkout, only to later insist with a straight face that it was merely a “localised dispute” and definitely not a messy breakup.

Meanwhile, Umno is whispering sweet nothings to PAS while aggressively ignoring the rest of the PN entourage.

Their message is crystal clear: “We only want PAS. The rest of you can wait in the car.”

This leaves Gerakan, Pejuang, MIPP, and Wawasan wandering the political wilderness like stray cats, wondering if Umno will favour Gerakan or MIPP over MCA just to add more spice to the turf war.

Predictably, the MCA grassroots are furious. Factions are urging the leadership to exit BN entirely, tired of being the neglected spouse while Umno chases its green-tinted dreams.

With an emergency meeting called to decide if they will even bother showing up at the Melaka polls, MCA is threatening to withhold its election machinery.

Without MCA volunteers to put up posters, Umno might actually have to do some of its own heavy lifting in mixed seats.

Public contradiction

Worse still, BN and PAS are already demonstrating the ultimate political love language: public contradiction.

What the BN chairman joyfully advertised as a unified joint candidate announcement on Oct 24 was promptly scoffed at by the PAS deputy president, who preferred to schedule his own separate announcement instead.

It seems PAS and the wider PN entourage are less than thrilled about being “generously gifted a grand total of seven seats” — especially since five of them happen to be structural fortresses of the DAP.

This transforms their campaign trail from a walk in the park into an electoral suicide mission. Faced with this overwhelming “generosity”, PAS is employing its favourite strategic masterstroke: standing completely still, watching, and hinting that they might just dump the arrangement entirely to go solo.

Should PAS and its allies choose to walk alone, it leaves the remaining BN factions scrambling.

The long-suffering optimists left at MCA’s headquarters can only pray that if the green wave recedes into a solo run, they might by absolute, unadulterated luck be handed back a few extra crumbs to contest.

As nomination day looms, the BN leadership faces a critical question: Is it wise to sacrifice the last remnants of its multi-ethnic coalition just to hold hands with PAS?

But for now, Umno remains intoxicated by the scent of PAS’s massive voter base, seemingly unbothered by the fact that their own house is burning down.

Moaz Nair is an FMT reader.

The views expressed are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect those of FMT.

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