Malaysia: MCA No. 2 hopeful accuses rivals of courting Pakatan

• MCA’s separatist team is keen to leave Barisan Nasional to pave the way for the ethnic Chinese party to join the Pakatan Harapan ruling coalition, said deputy presidential hopeful Mah Hang Soon.
• In the coming party elections, presidential hopeful Gan Ping Sieu and his running mate Tee Siew Keong are looking to pull the party out of BN, while the pairing of current deputy president Wee Ka Siong and Mah are proposing that the pre-independence party sticks to the former ruling coalition.
• Mah told The Malaysian Insight that his rivals are pushing to exit BN as they have set their sights on cabinet posts once they join the PH government. But Mah said the plan is ill-thought of, as Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad is unlikely to take the MCA seriously.
• Mah said with new leaders, and if Umno and BN were willing to change and revamp their image and direction, the coalition can win back the support of the people.
• Mah said it would be irresponsible for MCA to “abandon its allies now”. If MCA does decide to leave BN, it will have to be done on the consensus of party members after its elections, and not merely on the whim of a few leaders, Mah said.
• Tee told Sin Chew Daily recently that the Gan-Tee team will seek cooperation with Dr Mahathir if elected as leaders. When asked if they are looking to join PH, he did not give a straight answer, merely saying that all is possible in the realm of politics.
• Despite the party’s almost-total decimation in the 14th general election, Mah believes that the Chinese will return to support MCA which is the only political party that represents the needs of the community.
• He blamed the party’s decline in support to many factors, including “demonization” by the then-opposition parties, as well as MCA’s silence on government scandals like 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB).
• Dr Wee Ka Siong is MCA’s sole parliamentarian and should not be held responsible by the scandals of the previous leadership, says his running mate.
• After PH came to power, it reopened investigations into 1MDB, revealing that former MCA president Dr Chua Soi Lek had accepted campaign funds given by former Umno president Najib in 2013.
• Mah said the scandal happened during the previous leadership and should not be an indictment of acting-president Wee Ka Siong, who holds the party’s sole parliamentary seat. He said Wee should not be held responsible by the scandals of the previous leadership.

External Link: https://www.themalaysianinsight.com/s/107618