Published: Tuesday May 7, 2013 MYT 10:33:00 PM

GE13: Soi Lek urged to step down immediately

KANGAR: There are continued calls for MCA president Datuk Seri Dr Chua Soi Lek to resign immediately.

Sabah MCA deputy chief Datuk Paul Kong Sing Chu said as Dr Chua was also the state chief of Johor and Perak where MCA suffered massive losses in the elections, the president should resign immediately to pave way for a new party leadership.

His state counterpart, Sabah MCA secretary Kelvin Lim, said resigning was the only "honorable and appropriate" way for Dr Chua.

In a statement issued here Tuesday, Lim said he was making a personal call with a heavy heart as it was in the best interests of the party, which managed to retain only seven parliamentary and 11 state seats, its poorest performance in its history.

Padang Besar MCA division chief Datuk Loh Yon Foo told a press conference that Dr Chua should step down, saying the president had failed to deliver.

On MCA's decision not to accept any government post after failing to do better than the 2008 general election, Loh urged the some 400 members who are mostly holding positions in the various village security and development committees to step down.

An online news portal also reported that three MCA Selangor division chiefs made a similar call for Dr Chua to resign.

Tan Chong Seng (Kuala Selangor), Lee Wei Keat (Subang) and Liew Yuen Keong (Serdang) said party morale was affected after Dr Chua ceded three parliamentary and two state seats to other component parties in Barisan Nasional during the general election.

On Monday, Pagoh MCA division chief Datuk Gan Hong Su and MCA Pasir Gudang division chief Tan Cher Puk had also called for Dr Chua's resignation.

However, Taiping MCA division chief Lee Hock Tow said Dr Chua should not step down until there was a successor.

He told China Press that this was to prevent any inter-party fighting.

Dr Chua had earlier said that he would not be defending his presidency in the party's elections this year.

He said he would in the meantime work on stablising the party under "this difficult condition".

For more election stories, please visit The Star's GE13 site

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