MCA chief labels Tee Keat as ‘irrelevant’

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KUALA LUMPUR: MCA president Datuk Seri Dr Chua Soi Lek has labelled former president Datuk Seri Ong Tee Keat as ‘irrelevant’ to the party.

He said Ong, who served as MCA president for only 17 months, would remain a ‘footnote’ in the party’s history.

While five extraordinary general meetings (EGM) were held in the party’s 62-year history, Dr Chua noted that under Ong’s presidential tenure, two EGMs were held.

“We are making sure the MCA reaches out to the people. We are not in the business of EGMs. Maybe, he (Ong) is talking about us not conducting EGMs and that’s why we are losing our relevance?

“He had a chance to lead MCA …however, he never did anything to reform or transform the party.

“All he (Ong) did was to punish and sack people who went against him,” he said at a press conference after launching MCA’s 58th General Assembly which was opened by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak here yesterday.

On Saturday, Ong, who is also Pandan member of parliament, had told a news portal that MCA was heading towards irrelevance as it had not pushed for reforms after the party lost 25 of 40 federal and 59 of 90 state seats it contested in the 2008 General Election.

Meanwhile, Dr Chua said Ong, who had openly voiced out that he had no faith in the party, should not stand as MCA candidate under the Barisan Nasional (BN) ticket in the upcoming general election.

At one point in the press conference, the MCA president asked Ong to resign from the party, if he had ‘no faith in the party’.

However, minutes later, Dr Chua clarified that Ong should not serve the rakyat under the name of the party as he had no confidence in the party.

“The conclusion is up to the people to draw. (It’s) Up to his (Ong’s) wisdom…I make a statement which is from the premise, how he will draw the conclusion, is up to him,” he said. — Bernama