KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 9 — MCA presidential hopeful Gan Ping Sieu has called for his party to stop looking at governance from a racial perspective, but stopped short of saying that he would open up the Chinese-based Barisan Nasional (BN) party to all races.

In an interview with Malay-language daily Sinar Harian, Gan also said that BN’s decision-making process must be reformed to prevent component parties such as MCA, MIC and Gerakan from being seen as irrelevant despite holding Cabinet posts.

“Our struggle is no longer based on solely racial issues or on looking at national issues through the racial lens,” Gan was quoted as saying.

“This is not a good thing. Hence, MCA needs to change. If we are still engaged in the same politics, we will not get support from voters, especially Chinese voters,” he added.

But when asked if he would turn MCA into a multi-racial party should he win presidency, Gan said that he would look at it when the time comes.

“For now, we should not misunderstand the foundation of MCA. Besides Chinese education, it involves the whole rakyat. We defend the constitution and the country’s sovereignty...To me, the priority is racial integration,” added the current MCA vice-president.

Gan, who is considered a proxy for current president Datuk Seri Dr Chua Soi Lek, will contest against deputy president Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai and former president Datuk Seri Ong Tee Keat for the presidency in the December 21 party election.

Dr Chua pledged last Wednesday that he would stay out of the three-way race, saying that he wanted to retire with “integrity and credibility”.

Gan told Sinar Harian that he would leave it to the delegates at MCA’s annual general meeting to decide if the party should review its resolution to stay away from the Cabinet.

“Even if we want to take up Cabinet posts, the first thing is how many posts... if they offer just one post, it will look like a symbolic gesture. That is not good,” said Gan.

“Secondly, the decision-making process in BN needs to change. If not, not only will MCA, MIC and Gerakan look irrelevant and ineffective, the few posts given will also be pointless. To me, whoever holds such posts needs to be effective and to be perceived as influential in the BN structure,” he added.

At the MCA’s extraordinary general meeting on October 20, party delegates rejected the motion to reverse MCA’s rejection of Cabinet posts.

MCA recorded its worst-ever electoral performance in Election 2013 by winning just seven federal seats, while BN lynchpin Umno gained an additional nine seats for a total of 88 seats in the 222-seat Parliament.

“After 505, I believe it is time for a new leadership based on new politics and ideologies, founded on MCA’s core values,” said Gan, referring to the May 5 general election.

“If component parties in BN — MCA and MIC — are not seen as relevant and influential in the BN mechanism, this will weaken BN as a political coalition,” he added.