MCA agrees to dissolve BN, to form new coalition

(FMT) – The MCA annual general meeting today passed a resolution for the dissolution of Barisan Nasional (BN) and for a more effective coalition to be forged.

MCA president Wee Ka Siong said the resolution was passed by the central delegates at 6.18pm by way of raising of hands, with only one delegate disagreeing.

The general assembly pledged unwavering dedication to the central committee to lead MCA in regaining support for a political comeback by implementing effective checks and prudent balances to ensure the government is highly efficient, transparent and free of corruption.

“The MCA central committee has now been authorised to begin the process of dissolving BN and to form a new coalition,” Wee told reporters at a press conference this evening, after the party’s annual general meeting was adjourned.

Speculation has been rife about whether MCA, one of the founding members of BN, would leave the coalition. It was previously reported that a decision to that end will be made today.

Wee told the delegates today now was not the time to point fingers.

“We have a spirit of musyarawah, because the Alliance was formed by the three parties — Umno, MCA and MIC. If we take into account the current political scenario in Malaysia, it goes back to the three parties that formed the Alliance in the early 1950s.

“We’ve heard the views of the delegates. Many are aged under 40.

“One by one, they have dissected the situation and given the rationale for the party to make a decision. There are those who called for future plans and those who called for calm and not to be emotional.

“After taking into account the views of the young people and veterans, this resolution was passed. One disagreed. The rest raised their hands in agreement.

“We consider it an overwhelming consensus.”

Central committee will discuss next step

Wee said the entire proceedings were recorded and urged some quarters not to jump to conclusions.

“There was no protest. The leaders have yet to answer. The debate was ongoing, yet some media had over-zealously reported that there were delegates who disagreed.

“I need to explain this to avoid disputes. The person who made the statement was not in the hall. There is a time and place to discuss. It is not nice to make assumptions.”

When asked to identify the single person who had objected, Wee said it was not for him to name him.

“I am not interested. It is a democratic process. Anyone can say yes or no. Even the person you interviewed (in media). He was given seven minutes (to speak).

“What is the problem? Maybe the media created the problem,” he said.

When asked if there was peer pressure for the resolution to be worded in such a manner, Wee said there was no such thing.

“What peer pressure? We want to listen to different views. Whether to quit or to stay (in BN).

“Some states said think twice. We have to listen to the members,” he said.

On how MCA intended to push for this, considering they had only one parliamentary seat, Wee said it was not about how many MPs one had in the coalition.

“This is about consensus. The general assembly has delegated power to the central committee, under the party’s constitution.

“We delegate the power to the central committee for them to take the next course of action.

“We will take it to the relevant authorities. In this case, it is the BN Supreme Council.

“We cannot unilaterally do it. We need a consensus. That is why the central committee has been authorised to initiate the process. We need to discuss with other partners,” he said.

On whether this meant MCA is undecided on whether to leave BN, and why the wording “dissolve” and not “quit” was used, Wee said delegates could request for amendments to be made to the words.

“Many delegates were of the view that dissolving BN is better. This is not a Wee Ka Siong resolution.

“Who wrote and typed the words is not important,” he said.

On whether dissolving BN was what the Chinese community wanted, Wee said he would leave that to the delegates to decide.

On the new parties to be included in the new coalition, Wee merely repeated “to forge a new coalition”.

“I have nothing more to add,” he added.