PUTRAJAYA: MCA president Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai today hinted that more than 50 per cent of the party’s candidates for the 14th General Election (GE14) will comprise new faces.
He said MCA had shortlisted the names of its candidates and submitted it to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak, who is also Barisan Nasional chairman.
“The prime minister and I will sit down to go through the list of every state and make the necessary announcement when the time comes,” he said after the cabinet meeting.
On whether the new faces would comprise more young blood, Liow said they were a mix of old and young first timers.
He also said the party today was stronger and more united, which was reflected in the recent patriotic Chinese rally with good response from the Chinese community and guild associations.
He said similar stronger together MCA patriotic programmes would be launched at the state level.
“The next important phase is to forge stronger unity between the Chinese and multiracial communities.
“We want all races to move forward, not only the Chinese,” he said.
On former Selangor menteri besar Tan Sri Muhammad Muhammad Taib’s decision to rejoin Umno, Liow said it reflected the disarray and lack of direction in the opposition camp.
“I think he is more convinced now that Umno and BN can deliver (progress and prosperity) to the people.
“This is an important message that the rakyat should know,” he said, adding that he would not be surprised if many more would leave Pakatan.
“There are internal conflicts over there. The other camp does not have the core values as what BN has — consensus, harmony and unity,” he said.