Pulling out of BN should be an option, says MCA man

Former veep Gan Ping Sieu says it’s certainly an option being mooted by the party’s grassroots.

MCA leader Gan Ping Sieu. (Bernama pic)

PETALING JAYA: A senior MCA leader said today that the party should consider withdrawal from Barisan Nasional (BN) as one of its options.

Former MCA vice-president Gan Ping Sieu, who was also deputy youth and sports minister, said it was not for him to speak on behalf of his party leadership.

However, he added that he was certain withdrawal from BN was one of the options under consideration.

“I’m sure it’s one of the options. It’s certainly been mooted by the grassroots.

“I think the reform committee of MCA is going around the country. We have to be fair to them, and allow them to go through the process,” he said when met after a press conference held by Centre For A Better Tomorrow (Cenbet), of which he is co-president.

MCA was almost wiped out in the 14th general election, winning only one federal and two state seats, compared to seven federal and 11 state seats in 2013.

Several Sabah BN component parties quit the coalition after the May 9 polls.

Today, BN suffered its biggest blow yet with all four parties in Sarawak BN – PBB, SUPP, PRS and PDP – announcing that they had pulled out to form the Sarawak-based Gabungan Parti Sarawak pact.

Gan said BN must be transformed to the extent that its decision-making process became more inclusive, otherwise its components like MCA would suffer further erosion of voter confidence.

“MCA will be a liability to Umno, and Umno will be a liability to MCA. It depends on which angle you look at it. It’s not going to help either party.

“I won’t go and say Umno is our liability, but from Umno’s point of view, I won’t be surprised if they think MCA is their liability. But all this is academic now,” he said.

He also highlighted the importance of moving forward, calling on all race-based parties to work together.

“As long as the political decision-making process is inclusive enough, it will work.

“But somehow I feel it’s not inclusive enough and thus it broke down.

“It’s important for all race-based political parties to look into this,” he said.

Asked whether MCA was still relevant in the new political landscape after Pakatan Harapan’s success in changing the federal government for the first time in six decades, he said the party leaders must first get their act together.

“All political parties will have their ups and downs. We take 1995 as a classic example, when even Lim Kit Siang and the late Karpal Singh lost in the election.

“For serious political actors and parties, you should never give up, because we have our core values and purpose.

“We are the main political actors and, historically, MCA is a founding political party for this nation.

“MCA is not giving up, the current leadership is not giving up. The election is ongoing, and we are sure we are not giving up,” he said.

Asked if he would contest in the next party election, Gan said he would definitely go for a mainstream post but he needed to discuss with party leaders before deciding on the post.

“The last thing the MCA grassroots want is to see an open embarrassment due to internal friction. We will further lose the confidence of the public,” he said. -FMT