MCA cannot be a multiracial political party unless Umno - the dominant member in the ruling BN coalition - does the same, said a veteran leader of the Chinese-based party.

So long as Umno continues to project itself as the guardian of Malay rights, MCA cannot ditch its role as the representative of the Chinese community, said former party vice-president Yap Pian Hon.

yap pian hon interview 160608 01 “If Umno keep championing Malay interests, MCA cannot go and claim to represent the Malays as well. The Malay community will ask, ‘why do I need you to represent me? I already have Umno’.”

Party president Ong Ka Ting had argued that MCA would break away from racialist politics to fight for the rights of all races in the wake of the party’s disastrous performance in the March 8 general elections.

Yap however begged to differ.

“If the multiracial approach can be a success, I believe Gerakan, People’s Progressive Party and other political parties that champion multiracialism would have succeeded. But the reality is very different,” he said in an interview with Malaysiakini last week.

MCA suffered its worst electoral performance three months ago, retaining only 15 out of the 31 parliamentary seats it won in the 2004 general elections.

Yap has instead suggested BN component parties to enhance their cooperation at the grassroots level rather than only working together whenever there is an election.

No plans for retirement yet

The party veteran also ticked off MCA chief Ong for dropping half of the party incumbents in the recent general elections.

While he said he was not questioning Ong’s prerogative as party chief in selecting the candidates, this was however done with very little transparency.

“At least you need to have good reasons (for dropping the incumbents). Was it because of their performance? Or their service records were not good? Were they involved in abuse of power?”

Yap, who is a six-term state assemblyperson and three-term parliamentarian in Serdang, was among those dumped by MCA.

yap pian hon interview 160608 05 He stressed the importance of having a transparent and accountable internal mechanism within the party in the candidate selection process.

The senior politician believed if given the chance to defend his Serdang parliament seat - considered a BN stronghold - it would not have been lost to opposition party DAP.

Besides Serdang, MCA also lost Klang and Selayang in Selangor - where incumbents Tan Yee Kew and Chan Kong Choy were not fielded.

All three are linked to a faction not aligned with the party president.

Yap, 65, although defeated in the 2005 party polls where he contested for the vice-president post, has no plan to retire from active politics.

“You can’t be winning forever. But I will not give up just because I lost the vice-president post. I can still work through many other channels,” said Yap, who was elected party vice-president for three consecutive terms from 1990 to 1999.

He did not rule out the possibility of making a comeback in the October MCA polls, saying that he has to consider a few factors first before making the final decision.

chua soi lek resigns sex tape scandal 020108 confident However when quizzed on the possibility of Johor strongman and former vice-president Chua Soi Lek becoming the next party chief, Yap demurred.

“There is still time to consider who is the best man ... let the delegates decide.”

Pakatan members lack cohesive agenda

Yap, a former Selangor exco member, was also asked to evaluate the performance of the Pakatan Rakyat state governments in their first three months in power.

He said that Pakatan members still lack a cohesive agenda. This has resulted in exco members announcing conflicting policies.

Yap also poured cold water on Perak government’s intention to issue permanent land titles to new villages.

He pointed out that under section 76 of the National Land Code, a state government could only issue permanent land titles on three conditions.

  • if this is requested by federal government

  • that the land is to be used for a public purpose

  • and any other 'special circumstances'

Yap said that the final condition has not been clearly defined and the state legal advisor would need to seek advice from the Attorney-General’s Chambers on whether the Perak government can proceed with its proposal.