The expected appointment of two Chinese aides to the prime minister reflects Dr Mahathir Mohamad's realisation of the importance of Chinese support, said the political secretary of Malaysia's first prime minister.

"He cannot govern without the combined support of the Chinese, Malays or other races," said Yap Chin Kwee, who worked for Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra Al-Haj from 1963 to 1970.

On Tuesday, malaysiakini reported that Mahathir is expected to appoint two Chinese aides - a personal assistant and a press secretary who are both non-MCA members - in order to bridge the 'widening gap' between the government and the Chinese community.

This will be the first time that Chinese aides are appointed in Mahathir's 20 years as prime minister.

According to Yap, the dwindling of political support for Mahathir is due to the lack of public relation efforts by the prime minister.

"He is isolated from the Malay masses. You do not see him around other than with his officers and his so-called friends and cronies. This is not good for a national leader, he must be seen moving with the people," he told malaysiakini.

Following the report of the expected appointments, Barisan Nasional's Chinese-based component parties - MCA and Gerakan - denied that the move reflected their ineffectiveness.

However, some observers have speculated that the expected appointments are tantamount to a sidelining of the Chinese-based component parties who have always been the "bridge" between the government and the community.

Nevertheless, Yap said the appointments should not give the impression that Mahathir is facing a crisis with the Chinese community.

"Anyone who works for the prime minister is there to address Malaysian problems and not Chinese or Malay ones alone," he said.

Poor PR

Meanwhile, a former member of parliament said the appointment would not be able to resolve the Chinese community's grievances that can only be salved when there is a change of government.

"Unfair policies affecting the Chinese will not be settled unless the government is changed," Sim Kwang Yang who was MP for Kuching and a former DAP member.

Describing the expected appointments as a "mere cosmetic change", Sim claimed the action was to please the Chinese community but it would not solve their problems.

Chinese daily Nanyang Siang Pau's deputy-chief editor Cheng Khee Chien is expected to be appointed as the premier's press secretary and is said to be in charge of the Mandarin-speaking section of the community.

Whereas sources told malaysiakini that a Chinese lawyer is rumoured to have been offered the post of political secretary and will oversee the English-speaking Chinese.

MCA needed

When asked to comment on whether the Chinese-based BN parties are being sidelined, Sim said Umno needs the component parties in order to hold on to power.

"It is the MCA which kept Umno in power following the last elections; if any of the five percent Chinese votes had shifted to Barisan Alternatif, it would have changed the fate of Umno," he said.

In the last general elections, Umno suffered an unprecedented setback when it lost 16 parliamentary seats and 55 state assembly seats.

For the first time in its history, Umno had to depend on the BN component parties - especially MCA's 28 parliamentary seats - to secure the governing coalition's two-third majority in Parliament.