MCA president Wee Ka Siong and his team’s sweep of the party’s central leadership posts marks the end of the factionalism that had taken root in the ethnic Chinese party, and signals the start of a new era for the Barisan Nasional component, analysts say.
MCA’s future now hinges on Wee’s courage in pursuing reform that the party members still want, just in a less radical fashion than that proposed by his vanquished rival, Gan Ping Sieu.
Gan’s loss at the just-concluded party polls did not mean MCA members had rejected change, but that they wished for change to take place in a more conservative and stable manner, said political commentator Koh Kok Wee.
Gan, who was vice-president, had said that if he was elected, he would hold a referendum on whether the party should leave BN.
Koh said he believed that in the end, MCA members had voted for unity and stability to see them through uncharted waters ahead, and that their votes for Wee signalled a desire to put an end to the deep divisions splitting the party.
Rare unity
Koh said such unity was rare in the party in the last 10 years.
There was a power struggle in the 2008 party elections, when Ong Tee Keat was elected president and Dr Chua Soi Lek his deputy. The tables turned in the 2010 polls when Dr Chua ousted Ong, causing factions to sprout for the former health minister, the weakened Ong, and Liow Tiong Lai who later succeeded Dr Chua as party president.
When Liow became president in 2013, other top posts in the central leadership were still dominated by those in the Liow and Dr Chua camps, Koh said.
“This meant that MCA’s factional struggles in the past 10 years have failed to produce a united leadership. No one faction could completely eliminate the other.
“This time, Wee’s team has won in a landslide.”
In the recent election, the deputy presidency, the four vice-presidencies, and the 25 central committee seats all went to Wee’s men.
Koh added Wee being the party’s sole MP, his credentials as former deputy president under Liow, or Gan’s weak campaign could all have factored in the sweep.
“Or it could be that party members had decided to end factional struggles.”
Yes to reform, but slowly
That there is a need for reform is undeniable, lfollowing BN’s loss in GE14, in which MCA was wiped out, save for Wee in Ayer Hitam.
The question, Koh said, was about the pace and the level of reform, whether the changes should be sudden and drastic or gradually introduced.
MCA’s largely conservative and cautious members from the Chinese guilds, business and trade associations have chosen the latter.
“The whole of MCA is quite conservative. Radical reforms, while it may revive the party, may also cause the whole party structure to fall apart. This was probably what many grassroots leaders were thinking,” Koh said.
Koh said MCA members had spoken about reform before, but the difference now was that the party’s survival was at stake. To push for sudden change at its lowest point could cause its demise.
Another political commentator, Dr Cheah See Kian, agreed that Gan lost because members were conservative.
“They don’t want to rock the boat with sudden reforms.”
Ultimately, Gan’s proposal of a referendum on leaving BN will likely happen in one form or another, as the question of whether to leave BN must be answered.
Leaving presented no good options, Cheah said, as BN was the only home MCA had known since independence.
Yet, remaining with the former ruling coalition will tie MCA to Umno and make independent reform difficult.
“MCA has never been in the opposition, this is its first time. In Parliament, you need at least two in a team; one to raise issues, the other to support, with both working as a team.
“Only then you can function well as an opposition during parliamentary debates,” Cheah said.
Much will depend on Wee, whom party members have given the responsibility as they see him as a stabilising leader for uncharted waters in the party’s history. – November 6, 2018.
Sayap pemuda Pakatan cabar calon Perikatan isytihar aset, liabiliti
Pakatan challenges Perikatan candidate to declare assets, debts
Don’t fall prey to fake Datuk
Bebek, balado, satay stand out in Indonesian casual dining
Eu Hooi-Khaw
Comments
Posted 5 years ago by Rupert Lum · Reply
Posted 5 years ago by CHEE Meng Ng · Reply
Posted 5 years ago by CHEE Meng Ng · Reply
Posted 5 years ago by CHEE Meng Ng · Reply
Posted 5 years ago by CHEE Meng Ng · Reply
Posted 5 years ago by CHEE Meng Ng · Reply
Posted 5 years ago by CHEE Meng Ng · Reply
Posted 5 years ago by CHEE Meng Ng · Reply