MCA’s rejuvenation process starts in Johor, says Wee

 

MCA president Wee Ka Siong (front row, centre) with Johor MCA leaders and members at the state chapter’s annual convention. (Utusan pic)

PETALING JAYA: MCA will begin its “rejuvenation process” in Johor, says its president Wee Ka Siong, with the party aiming to recruit 4,000 new members in the southern state.

According to Utusan Malaysia, Wee said MCA’s Wanita and Youth wings will lead the charge of attracting new members, especially in view of the implementation of Undi18.

The Undi18 and automatic voter registration initiatives paved the way for 5.8 million voters above the age of 18 to take part in the last general election, with poll observers claiming it led to Perikatan Nasional unexpectedly winning 74 parliamentary seats.

“Johor MCA has a good party structure in place. It is also the backbone of the party. Of MCA’s two MPs and seven assemblymen, six of our elected representatives are in Johor.

“With that, Johor needs to be the pioneer in our endeavour to rejuvenate the party, kickstarting a movement so that MCA can perform much better in the future,” said Wee, the Ayer Hitam MP.

The campaign to recruit new members is part of MCA’s preparation for the 16th general election, said Wee, adding that other states would follow Johor MCA’s initiative.

The former minister acknowledged that a large membership base was not the main factor in ensuring election victories, but said it was crucial to rejuvenate the party and bring in new blood.

“Like it or not, we must add to our numbers immediately. MCA is preparing to defend the seats we have won, while looking to wrest the seats we lost narrowly (in past elections). That’s our GE16 target.”

MCA put up its worst electoral performance in the 2018 general election, failing to win a single state seat and winning only one parliamentary seat, Ayer Hitam.

However, things seemed to be looking up for the Barisan Nasional component after that, as it managed to win two seats in the 2021 Melaka polls and four in the 2022 Johor polls.

In last November’s general election (GE15), Wee successfully defended his Ayer Hitam seat while Wee Jeck Seng retained the Tanjung Piai seat, which he won during the 2019 by-election.

MCA also won one seat in the Perak state assembly in GE15. - FMT