SUNGAI PETANI: All 26 MCA councillors in local authorities in PAS-led Kedah will relinquish their positions with immediate effect.

State MCA chairman Datuk Beh Heng Seong said this was the decision taken by the party’s Central Committee in a meeting on Saturday.

He said the decision only affected MCA councillors serving in states not ruled by Barisan Nasional.

“MCA leaders who get appointed again as local authority councillors from other recommendations in Opposition-led states must resign as party members if they choose to accept the offer,” he said in an interview yesterday.

All MCA councillors in local authorities are currently nominated by the party.

Beh said he had informed all the MCA councillors in Kedah yesterday and was awaiting their official letters of resignation to be sent to the party headquarters for further action, adding that none objected to the decision.

On the poor performance by Kedah MCA, which lost three of four state seats and one of two parliamentary seats the party contested in, he said politics was a long-term struggle.

“It does not end overnight. Those who did not make it through in the general election can still serve the people. I have urged them not to be demoralised but to continue to serve the people,” he added.