KUALA LUMPUR: Several key Barisan Nasional leaders have arrived at the Putra World Trade Centre here for a supreme council meeting on Friday (March 8).
MCA president Datuk Seri Dr Wee Ka Siong, deputy president Datuk Dr Mah Hang Soon, and secretary-general Datin Paduka Chew Mei Fun arrived at around 10.35am.
MIC president Tan Sri S. A. Vigneswaran and deputy president Datuk Seri M. Saravanan arrived shortly after.
Umno vice-president Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob, Youth chief Datuk Dr Asyraf Wajdi Dusuki and Wanita chief Datuk Dr Noraini Ahmad and others had arrived earlier.
The meeting is expected to discuss the future of the coalition.
Earlier this week, MCA and MIC decided that they were left with no choice but to move on from Barisan and explore a new alliance to reflect the true intentions of “unity in diversity” that marked the formation of the coalition decades ago.
MCA and MIC had also described Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz's appointment as Barisan's secretary-general as illegal and not recognised by the two parties.
They also said that the racial remarks by Nazri during the Semenyih by-election had further damaged ties between the three founding parties of Barisan.
Nazri had said that non-Malays should not question Malay privileges, as the non-Malays also enjoyed special privileges such as vernacular schools.
He also questioned the appointments of non-Malays as Attorney General, Chief Justice and Finance Minister, adding that Malay rights should be defended at all costs.
After he received some backlash for his speech, Nazri held a press conference denying that he wanted vernacular schools to be shut down.
He is currently being investigated for sedition over his remarks.
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