KUALA LUMPUR: Pakatan Harapan (PH) lacks sufficient institutional experience and a common identity to govern the country.
Former MCA president Tan Sri Liow Tiong Lai in an interview with a news portal claimed that component parties in the opposition were purely motivated by self-interest.
This, he said, caused the downfall of the then PH administration after only 22 months becoming the federal government.
"They fight like cats and dogs among themselves," Liow was quoted in the FMT interview.
He said this is in contrast to Barisan Nasional (BN) although the coalition has its own share of weaknesses.
"We know both Umno and MIC very well, having been together for many decades. We understand each other perfectly.
"That has been the key to Malaysia's success over the last 60 years," he said.
Liow said only a strong MCA can make a significant impact within BN and subsequently the federal government.
"Change is needed, but we must be in BN to change BN. We can do nothing from the outside.
"That is why I am calling on MCA members to cast your vote in our favour this time," he said.
Liow is making a political comeback in the 15th General Election (GE15) on Nov 19.
For GE15, he is vying to recapture the Bentong parliamentary constituency, a seat which he held for almost two decades between 1999 and 2018.
Liow sets the battle it out against four other contenders including the seat incumbent Wong Tack, who is defending Bentong as independent after the latter was dropped in DAP's line-up of candidates for GE15.
DAP under PH instead decided to field former Ketari assemblyman Young Syefura Othman or better known as Rara to help the opposition to defend Bentong.
Others joining the foray are Perikatan Nasional (PN) candidate Datuk Roslan Hassan and independent candidate Mohd Khalil Abdul Hamid.
Liow believed that the internal conflict which saw Wong dropped in favour of Syefura, is proof of the discord in the party.
"Quite clearly, the conflict is because their services to the people of Bentong were sub-standard.
"In fact, many of the projects in Bentong were cancelled," he said.
Liow said he is making a comeback to offer the constituents as "an alternative who they are already familiar with".
He also claimed PH failed to deliver their promises during their short stint in government.
He also disputed Syefura's claim that he had not shown up in the constituency over the last few years.
"That is not true. I have constantly kept in touch with the people of Bentong. I was here at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, during the floods and also the fire in Karak," he said in the interview.