Former MCA president Dr Chua Soi Lek today slammed his successor Liow Tiong Lai for his failure to transform the party.

Chua claimed he has run out of patience due to lack of transformation in MCA in the past two years.

"Liow vowed to transform the party when he took office two years ago and I supported it quietly.

"But I did not see any transformation. I only saw party headquarters being renovated for better feng shui ," he said in a press conference.

According to Chua, Liow ( photo ) only loves having his pictures taken and these pictures would appear in the second or third pages of an English newspaper.

"Liow is weak. He has avoided responding to major issues," he added.

However, Chua said he has no intention of toppling Liow, but is speaking out of love with an intention to see the MCA president change for good.

"I love Liow, but I love the party more. I have been quiet for the past two years, but the grassroots pressuring me to voice out," he said.

Chua also vowed he would not be MCA's version of former premier Dr Mahathir Mohamad, who criticised his successor continuously.

"This is nothing personal... If I want to bring him harm, I will rain him with praises," he said, adding that Liow never changed in the past two years.

Liow weak to helm MCA

In the 2013 party election, Chua had first pointed out that Liow was "weak" to helm the party.

In the press conference today, Chua further pointed out the other "sins" committed by the party and Liow, namely:

  1. The appointment of senators without the endorsement of central committee and presidential council as compared with previous leadership.
  2. Liow had failed to secure a state executive councillor position in Perlis and Pahang.
  3. Fifteen cronies of Liow acquired 'Datukship' titles.
  4. The party had signed many memorandum of understanding in China, mostly benefiting one particular MCA leader.
  5. No MCA leaders appointed in the National Economic Advisory Council (NEAC), special economic committee and an export committee chaired by Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak ( photo ).

Chua asked: "Was it because the prime minister failed to see you (Liow)?

"Or, Najib was made to understand that Liow knew very little about the economy, so he wanted only talented people, instead of Liow."

He blamed the failure of MCA's leadership to handle Sept 16 red shirt rally which has hurt the Chinese community and made it harder to gain their support for the coming elections.

According to Chua, Liow could have counter proposed a multiracial rally to support Najib, then there would be no protesters chanting "Cina babi", "Go back to China" and slogans to "eliminate" Chinese education.

He added that Liow had the opportunity to speak out at the cabinet and BN management committee meetings.

MCA's protest against the Sept 16 rally fell on deaf ears as Najib sanctioned it.

Liow had blamed the Umno hawks for stirring trouble and urged the Chinese community to remain calm.

Dismissing this, Chua said every parties have their own hawks, but MCA leadership should know the skills to handle them.

In MCA, he added, the hawks are those who claimed they would participate at the Bersih 4 rally but suddenly changed their mind.

"Sometimes it is a matter of expression and how you impress others. There is such a thing as falling in love at first sight.

"(You need) to have the skills to manage the hawks," said the former health minister.

Take disciplinary action against racists

Chua criticised the Umno grassroot leaders who lack in political wisdom, and opted to rise to become five-minute heroes, which eventually caused Najib more harm.

He urged the prime minister and the deputy prime minister as Umno leaders to take disciplinary action against these racists.

The Bersih 4 rally had proven that the majority of Chinese voters would not support BN, he noted.

"It is not easy to win them back, but when you continue to be evasive in major issues, there is no way they will approve of you," Chua said.

He said the party should review its cooperation with BN parties, as MCA only mix with their allies during general elections.

Asked whether Najib should step down amidst the 1MDB fiasco and the RM2.6 billion donation he received from a Middle East donor, he said: "I'll follow the party's stand, I am a party man. So, it is up to the party to make a stand. Personal feeling is not important.

He also rebutted a news report which claimed his supporters mulled about cutting ties with Najib.

"They are not my supporters. My supporters are highly disciplined like me. So do not embarrass me," he replied.

Once the party leadership makes a uniform stand to support Najib, the Pasir Gudang MCA Youth and division chief should either abide by the decision or quit the party to show their integrity, Chua said.

Meanwhile, Chua said he sees a bleak future for Pakatan Harapan, the newly formed opposition pact.

He said in terms of organisation, propaganda and discipline, DAP outshines its allies, namely PKR and Parti Amanah Negara (Amanah).

"When a party dominated by ethnic Chinese becomes the dominant party in a coalition, the Malays will be worried, whether the new government will be dominated by a single race," he noted.

Moreover, Chua added, Pakatan Harapan do not have grassroots support in Sabah and Sarawak, which holds one-third of Parliament seats.

Thus, it is not easy to replace BN, he concluded.

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