Chua retracts ‘no govt post’ motion

The MCA president now says that the party should accept appointed government posts, five months after declaring that MCA will not take up such positions.

KUALA LUMPUR: The leading advocate of MCA’s “no government post” motion, Dr Chua Soi Lek is now appealing for his party divisional delegates to vote against the pledge, after only five months of implementation.

The MCA president, who mooted the “no government post” resolution in 2010 and advocated it for approval in the party’s annual general meeting in 2011 and 2012, said the political climate has changed and the party had to change its stance.

The motion bars MCA members from assuming any government post following the party’s disastrous outing at the last general election in May, this year. However, the party’s extraordinary general meeting on Oct 20 has provided an opportunity for the motion to be overturned.

The extraordinary general meeting was also expected to censure party deputy president Liow Tiong Lai.

The all important meet, apart from proposing MCA takes-up all appointed government positions, will also be asked to give its green light for the party to accept senatorships, local council appointments and other posts in government linked companies.

“I appeal to the party delegates to agree to our motions especially on taking-up government positions as we have to adapt to the changing political climate.”

“DAP may accuse us for not honouring what we said earlier, but they too have previously gone against PAS but now working in cahoots with PAS because of Malay votes,” Chua told a press conference at the party headquarters here.

Chua said MCA needs to discuss the revocation of the “no government post” notion immediately because all local councils would need to reappoint their councillors by year end.

Should MCA continue to decline the positions, the vacant spots reserved for MCA would be snapped up by other Barisan Nasional parties and it would be hard for MCA to regain it, he added.

He said it would also be difficult for each BN-controlled state to amend it laws to allow for more excos should the party decide to take-up government positions at a later stage.

“Besides, many local folks have felt the pain of not having MCA representatives in their areas.  They realise that even to apply for conversion on land use or free text books, they need signatures of councillors,” said the former Labis MP.

“MCA is part of the BN coalition, we cannot be out of the government forever. So the most democratic and fairest way is to let the central delegates decide,” he said.