KUALA LUMPUR: MCA Kluang chairman Gan Ping Sieu has announced his candidacy for the president’s post in the party elections in a month’s time.
He said the party’s crushing defeat in 14th general election (GE14) had left members at a loss, with Chinese voters having abandoned MCA.
“MCA is suffering its worst public trust deficit in its entire history and this is actually reflected clearly in the GE14 electoral result. I hold on to the belief that voters, especially Chinese voters, have decided to penalise MCA and abandon MCA,” he told reporters at his office in Bangsar South.
This is the second time in a row that Gan will be contesting the top post in the party. In the previous party polls, he lost marginally to current president Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai.
“Respecting the democratic choice of MCA members and that of democratic principles, I then called on all my supporters and party members to provide the current party leadership all the support and cooperation they needed to get MCA out of the miserable electoral results of 2013.
“But unfortunately in GE14, MCA suffered a humiliating and crushing defeat, the worst in its entire party history.
“As a founding political party of the nation, for us to degenerate into the current miserable situation is something that the leadership, or whoever wants to run the party, must truly reflect on (and figure out) what had actually gone so badly wrong.”
Gan said one of the main reasons MCA had suffered this crushing defeat was because of the lack of expressing the party's stand and position on major controversial issues.
“We did not express our stand as a political party clearly and unambiguously. One of the classic examples is when I told the party leadership in 2015 that we needed to have a clear stand over 1MDB (1Malaysia Development Bhd). I was reprimanded by my party president for lacking the Barisan Nasional (BN) spirit, a straightjacket that we have to wear all the time and something I do not understand.
“On top of that, the lack of a clear roadmap of the current leadership led to inconceivable mistakes like allowing Pas and MCA candidates to campaign for each other in the recent Balakong and Sungai Kandis by-elections.
“We are a model party that lives in diversity and believe in secular governance with elements of Islamic institutions within the framework of a federal constitution and this is something very basic. If you hold on to this, there is no reason to allow Pas to campaign for us, nor should there be a reason for us to campaign for Pas.
“These are all very fundamental basic mistakes that we made and which I believe members of the public, especially the Chinese community, will never forgive.”
Gan said it was vital for him, his running mate or other quarters offering to lead MCA for the next three years to institute real change so as to regain public trust in the party and rebuild it.