History not on the side of MCA’s peace plan

By admin-j On Dec 7, 2013

The MCA will hold its party poll on Dec 21. Liow, former president Datuk Seri Ong Tee Keat and Vice-president Gan Ping Sieu are expected to engage in a three-cornered fight.

Chen Shaua Fui, Fz.com

Some might think a “peace plan” would stop the internal sword-fighting after the party poll, but the history of MCA politics has shown that this is not going to work.

Furthermore, this will strengthen the perception that MCA leaders are after party posts and personal political interest, and this is exactly why the voters deserted them in the 2008 and 2013 general elections.

Ng Nyen Fah, Director of the Centre for Malaysian Chinese Studies said that the unity plan or peace plan had been forged at least twice before, but it did not stop the party infighting that has brought MCA to its lowest point now.

Ng was referring to the unity plan forged by the former BN president Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad to get Tun Dr Ling Liong Sik and Tan Sri Lim Ah Lek – who had engaged in a fierce internal battle – to retire together in 2005.

The other plan, Ng recalled, was in 2008 in which Datuk Seri Ong Ka Ting and Datuk Seri Chan Kong Choy retired together after the poor showing of the party in the 2008 general election.

He pointed out that these plans only managed to stop the bleeding of the party for a while after the new leadership took over, and after the honeymoon period, the infighting continued.

“This is because the plan was forged by those who were in the top posts who belonged to different factions – but MCA does not belong to these two factions. Many MCA grassroots members do not belong to any faction. They merely go for any faction that serves their best interests,” Ng said.

He stressed that this is exactly how MCA continues to work. The leaders and grassroots are focused on their own interests, and do not have an ideology.

MCA has always been a service-based party, and it claimed that it represents the voice of the Chinese community. However, the political landscape has changed. The party had suffered its worst showing in the May 5th general election, in which the party only managed to retain seven parliamentary seats and 11 state seats.

Senior MCA leader Datuk Yap Pian Hon also reacted strongly to the peace plan in the making.

“This plan will kill democracy in the party as the new leadership will be arranged after negotiations,” Yap told fz.com in a phone interview.

He said this will not make MCA look good to the voters when it should be talking about reform, transformation and democratisation.

Yap, who is also a former vice-president, said the plan may work in the short term but the infighting will happen again because the team that was put in place was not chosen by the grassroots according to their assessment of the candidates.

“The central delegates must be given the opportunity to assess these leaders’ performance and goals and then make their choice. Then the new team that is born will not be monopolised by certain factions,” he said.

Yap said a free and fair party poll will ensure that the party can retain quality leaders and be respected.