Friday May 10, 2013

GE13: Bring forward party polls, MCA leaders urged

Gan: ‘Allow the new leadership to set the tone and direction of the party.’

KUALA LUMPUR: MCA vice-president Gan Ping Sieu has called on the party leadership to expedite party polls.

“Let members elect a new leadership and allow the new leadership to set the tone and direction of the party,” he told Bernama.

The MCA, which was founded in 1949, suffered the worst electoral performance in its history when it only managed to cling on to seven parliamentary and 11 state seats, out of a total of 127 seats contested.

In the 2008 general election, it won 15 parliamentary and 31 state seats.

Meanwhile, more MCA grassroots leaders are calling on party president Datuk Seri Dr Chua Soi Lek to resign immediately.

Lee: ‘Our intention is to save the party from further damage.’

“Our intention is to save the party from further damage. We are not blaming the president for the results but as an accountable leader, he should step down and not wait until the party elections,” said Save MCA Action Committee chairman Datuk Lee Kon Yin at a press conference in Ipoh, Perak yesterday.

“This does not mean we love the president any less but we love the party more,” he added.

Lee said the committee consisted of about 20 central delegate members and division chiefs and the joint statement was purely their own action and they did not represent the whole state.

In Kuantan, Maran MCA division chief Datuk Chow Liong said Dr Chua should be accountable for the party's massive defeat.

“Only then, can MCA move forward and plot strategies to regain the people's trust,” he said.

Raub MCA division chief Datuk Seri Lam Kam Sang claimed that one of the reasons why the party fared badly was owing to several bad calls by Dr Chua in the selection of candidates aligned to him.

Lam also alleged that Dr Chua had made unilateral decisions without prior consultation with division and state leaders.

“Be magnanimous and leave gracefully, and accept responsibility for the party's poor showing,” he said.

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