Former MCA veep to run for party presidency

Former MCA vice-president Gan Ping Sieu has announced that he will join the contest for MCA presidency, becoming the second person to vie for the post after incumbent deputy president Wee Ka Siong.

Gan said the party has failed to take a clear stance on many matters of principle and of national importance in the past, such as the 1MDB scandal, and as a result, was suffering its worst ever trust deficit and had been punished by voters in the 14th general election.

In addition, the party had lost its direction after the election, he said, resulting in the “inconceivable” situation where MCA and PAS campaigned for one another in the Sungai Kandis and Balakong by-elections.

“It is therefore important for my running mates, my team and I offer to ourselves for the party election to lead the party for the next three years with a simple mission of making real change to MCA – to regain the public's trust in MCA and to rebuild the party,” Gan told a press conference in Kuala Lumpur today.

Voting for the leaders of the MCA will take place on Nov 4. This would be the second time Gan is running for party presidency after being defeated by the incumbent president Liow Tiong Lai in the party's 2013 leadership election.

Liow has announced that he will not be defending his seat.

Gan said his running mate will be former Johor exco member Tee Siew Kiong, but other members of his team will be making their own announcements on their intention to contest.

He said we will announce his election manifesto only after his nomination has been accepted.

“My understanding with him (Tee, photo) is quite clear. He is very good at party networking and party operational work.

“He will be in our team primarily in charge of party internal matters, rebuilding party networks, and I will be doing the external matters,” he said, adding that Tee has a stellar track record in the previous Johor government.

As for his contender Wee, Gan said he intends to give Wee all resources necessary to ensure that he can be an effective opposition MP and enable him to take good care of his constituency Ayer Hitam if he (Gan) wins the party election.

However, he said, Wee has too much political baggage to lead the party effectively in its revival, and MCA needs to distance itself from its previous crop of leaders to win back the trust of the voters.

“You can see that in the past three months, whenever he (Wee) speaks in Parliament or issues a statement, I am in agreement with 90 percent of it, but 90 percent of netizens are criticising him.

“So, this baggage is a huge burden on him,” he said.

Wee is the only MP from MCA.

On another matter, Gan said he intends to leave the NGO Centre For A Better Tomorrow (Cenbet) if he is elected as party president so that the group can remain as an independent civil society group.

He would also take a sabbatical from his law firm to focus on leading the party. - Mkini