Ditch the old, vote for new MCA: Outgoing party boss

In a less than subtle jab at his predecessor and rival Ong Ka Ting, incumbent MCA president Ong Tee Keat has called on party members voting in its March 28 polls to leave the “old” ways behind and to vote for a 'new' MCA.

In a posting on his blog, the transport minister (right) said today that he has for several months been the target of attacks by “certain quarters who resist change and still want to live in their comfort zones”, rather than go through the pains of reform.

Tee Keat said he remains undeterred, however, as it is his belief that the majority of MCA members “want to see MCA transform.”

He mentioned Ka Ting only in the beginning of his blog posting to state that the election for the party's top post was not a “contest of personalities” or to determine who is the “stronger” figure.

Thereafter, however, Tee Keat made it no less clear as to who he was imputing as having failed to demonstrate MCA's commitment to “issues like transparency, accountability, good governance and being seen to be vocal”.

“This election is the party's endorsement of the reform that it needs to go through in the face of the worst general election MCA had ever gone through in March 8, 2008,” said Tee Keat in reference to MCA's dismal performance at the 12th general elections under Ka Ting.

Ka Ting (left) stepped down as party president in 2008 after his party's poor showing at the polls.

He announced his intention to contest the party's top post early this week, citing the need to mend the party's fractured state.

“This election is a platform for delegates to say whether they want to continue biting the bullet now so that they can stand tall after the 13th general election,” said Tee Keat.

Rubbing it in even further, Tee Keat said: “We must admit that the party has made mistakes in the past which led the voters to reject us.

“Do we still want to go back to the old ways of doing things and be condemned by voters come the 13th general election? Or do we want to move on and be in tune with the voters' expectations?” he asked.

He urged MCA voters casting their ballots on March 28 for the party's 31 central committee posts to vote for him as “an endorsement that the party needs to discard it's old ways of doing things.”

“A vote for Ong Tee Keat is a vote for MCA to be a respectable political party, not a social organisation. A vote for Ong Tee Keat is a vote for MCA to stand up and be heard, and not be cowed into submission,” he declared.

Aside from Tee Keat and Ka Ting, Dr Ng Yen Yen and Donald Lim have confirmed that they will vie for the vice-president's posts, of which there are four.

Meanwhile, former vice-president Kong Cho Ha today announced that he would be going for the deputy president's post and he is expected to face another former vice-president Liow Tiong Lai.

Former deputy president Dr Chua Soi Lek, who is widely known to be an arch contender to the two Ongs, will be announcing his candidacy tomorrow.

courtesy of Malaysiakini