MCA should have stayed out of cabinet, says Soi Lek

Lim Ai Sun Updated 6 years ago · Published on 19 Mar 2018 7:00AM · 5 Comments

FORMER MCA president Dr Chua Soi Lek said if the party had remained out of the cabinet after the 13th general election (GE13), the Chinese community would not regard the party with such disdain today.

“I think if MCA had insisted on staying out of the cabinet, we would have more room to manoeuvre,” Dr Chua told The Malaysian Insight recently.

Dr Chua led MCA during GE13 in 2013 and had declared that the party would quit the cabinet if it performed worse than it did in 2008’s GE12.

The declaration proved prophetic, as the party performed worse than 2008, then under Ong Ka Ting’s leadership, which led the party’s leaders to resign from all cabinet and senior governmental positions.

MCA won seven parliamentary seats and retained 11 state seats which saw its critics derisively label it the 7-11 party, after the popular convenience store.

In 2008, it did slightly better – winning at least a third – 15 out of the 40 parliamentary seats and 31 out of the 90 state seats it contested.

Prior to that, MCA had always been able to win more than half of the federal and state seats it contested since it first competed in the elections in 1959, except in the 1969 elections and 1990 elections, where it still won more than a third of the federal and state seats contested.

Dr Chua stood by his decision to keep MCA out of the cabinet, even though the party has been in the cabinet since independence, saying the people had shown in the past two general elections that they didn’t want the party in government.

The poor performance in the polls led to calls for Chua’s resignation.

He did not run in the following party election for president in December 2013.

Liow Tiong Lai was elected party president, and Wee Ka Siong, his deputy.

“If we had stayed out, then our political situation would be different today. Now the people blame MCA for everything because MCA is part of the government, this is the burden that we have to bear,” he said.

The former health minister said the recent attacks on former sugar tycoon Robert Kuok, who is highly regarded among the Chinese, proved that MCA could not champion the community even when it was in the cabinet.

“Senior MCA leaders did not dare to speak up for Kuok, even deputy president Wee Ka Siong, who attacked the DAP over the episode, did nothing,” Dr Chua said.

He also criticised MCA for its poor performance on critical current issues, saying the party neither showed courage nor political wisdom.

“This had led the community to disrespect MCA. If the party did not re-join the cabinet back then, then we would have more room to express our opinions on current issues,” the former Labis MP said.

Even if MCA is part of the cabinet, the party should still have the courage to give differing opinions as it is a Barisan Nasional component party, but this does not seem to be the case, he said.

Last November, BN chairman Najib Razak threw the gauntlet at MCA, challenging its oldest coalition partner to improve on its previous polls performance and win at least 15 federal seats to justify its number of cabinet posts.

Najib reminded the Chinese party that it only has seven MPs now and had to improve on that to retain seats in the cabinet.

“But if you have 15, you’ll be a lot stronger in the government,” the prime minister said.

“Tell the Chinese community: do you want a strong or weak representation in government? The choice is yours.” – March 19, 2018.

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Comments

  • "DOG EAT DOG". Haha, one said MCA will win. Now, this fellow says otherwise. MCA, GILAKAN only do for their pockets, not for non-Malays. The current MCA and GILAKAn line-up are the worst teams in their history. YET, still self-glorified and pro-BN. GE14 will be their doomsday.

    Posted 6 years ago by Vib wis · Reply

  • The declaration proved prophetic, as the party performed worse than 2008, then under Ong Ka Ting’s leadership, which led the party’s leaders to resign from all cabinet and senior governmental positions.Ong kah Ting himself beg for appointment as China envoy....his brother in the Cabinet.....Cakap satu buat satu......RAKYAT....SUDAH TAK NAK MCA.

    Posted 6 years ago by Mohanarajan murugeson · Reply

  • The people have to make bad choices but the politicians do not have to pay for it. Kill all politicians then

    Posted 6 years ago by Bigjoe Lam · Reply

  • Please do not listen to an Adulterer. MCA lost because it elect an adulterer to be its President - no shame. Your son is a deputy Minister and a Traitor to MCA and Chinese Community. No Shame!!!

    Posted 6 years ago by Chris Ng · Reply

  • Since MCA did not stay out of the cabinet after GE 13, as a means to tell Najib that BN's racist policy is not welcomed by Chinese, Chinese will have no choice but to send a strong message in GE 14 that they do not want to give them a chance to continue to care for their own interests. That message is to wipe out MCA and hence BN from Putrajaya. Until UMNO changes its way, let it be the only race-based party left in the country. It is good that the ROS would not register Pribumi, and Pakatan Harapan would not have an official race-based party when it takes over.

    Posted 6 years ago by Meng Kow Loh · Reply