Gerakan agrees to merger but..

Gerakan says “aye” to merger only if MCA morphs to multi-racial party

KUALA LUMPUR: Gerakan today gave the green light for merger-talks with MCA and Sarawak United People’s Party (SUPP).

“However, there is a condition. MCA must first amend its party constitution from a race-based party to a multi-racial party. Then, we can go deeper into the idea of having one political party,” said Gerakan acting president Chang Ko Youn.

He added that Gerakan and SUPP are multi-racial parties and hence, MCA must be a multi-racial party, too.

On Tuesday, MCA vice-president Donald Lim said he is confident that Barisan Nasional will only have one Chinese party before the GE14.
He confirmed that MCA has engaged in informal talks with the SUPP and Gerakan.

Chang confirmed the statement, saying that both parties have met quite a number of times. He added that they have been mulling over working together during their previous meetings.

“Yes, we have met and we have thrown in several ideas on how we can work together,” he said.

When asked if the move will benefit all parties, Chang said they are in the right direction.

“It will be the right decision and it will help not just us but Malaysians as a whole,” he said.

However, Lim said further discussion on the issue can only materialise after the MCA’s party election in December.