Is party polls behind MCA’s revamped GE13 slate?

It appears the MCA’s revamped candidates list reflects Dr Chua’s ambition to keep a grip on the party in the near future. — File picKUALA LUMPUR, April 16 — Datuk Seri Dr Chua Soi Lek’s move to drop two senior MCA leaders and put his own men is already causing waves in his party, but will it help Barisan Nasional (BN) in Election 2013 or just the party president in internal polls this year?

And are veterans like former party president Datuk Seri Ong Tee Keat not viewed as a “winnable candidate” in his Pandan stronghold which is will be contested by PKR’s “expose man” Rafizi Ramli in the May 5 general election?

Ong’s former cohort, party vice-president Senator Gan Peng Siu, has also been omitted from the list announced by Dr Chua yesterday, leading credence to whispers that only the president’s men are contesting the national polls.

Another vice-president, Datuk Seri Dr Ng Yen Yen, is also not contesting the polls, but the controversial tourism minister said she has asked for the break although there were concerns that her performance has affected BN in the past few years.

“Basically, Chua Soi Lek is preparing for the MCA elections after the GE. Hence, he is dropping all contenders and their supporters,” an MCA source told The Malaysian Insider.

“It is all the president’s men for GE13,” he said, adding the candidates list will strengthen Dr Chua’s hand in the next party polls due this year rather than BN’s defence of Putrajaya.

Dr Chua won a bitter battle with Ong in a requisitioned 2010 party election and the next internal polls must be held within six months of the general election.

It is not known if both will contest in the next party presidential polls but having a victorious Ong could dampen Dr Chua’s chances of keeping the presidency, sources said.

Another source said the party needed selfless leaders but internecine party rivalry has dictated the list given to BN chairman Datuk Seri Najib Razak.

“It’s the same in other BN parties. Internal politics determines who is named for public office.

“It doesn’t matter if they win in GE13 as long as their team wins and controls MCA,” he said.

He pointed out Dr Chua had rather abandoned a few seats and “loaned” them to Umno and the MIC rather than put candidates and fight the Pakatan Rakyat (PR) opposition pact.

“We named people for the Wangsa Maju and Gelang Patah seats but now Umno has taken them and we don’t make any noise. Chua is just focused on party polls, not GE13,” he added.

The MCA is contesting 37 federal seats and 90 state seats, three federal seats fewer than in Election 2008 in what critics say is proof of the party’s decline and shrinking influence over the Chinese vote in recent years.

The MCA divisions in Wangsa Maju and Gelang Patah have expressed anger and have closed their operations room over giving up the seats on fears they could lose due to unpopularity among the Chinese and Umno’s insistence that it stands a better chance of winning.

The smaller number of the MCA’s federal seats will affect its chances of winning at least 15 to equal the number it won in Election 2008. That will force Dr Chua to fulfil his promise of refusing Cabinet posts for not equalling the 2008 numbers.

However, it would seem the revamped candidates list with weaker personalities and reduced seats will have to take a backseat to Dr Chua’s ambition to keep a grip on the MCA in the near future.