KUALA LUMPUR, May 11 — The MCA leadership will meet today to evaluate the party’s performance in the 14th general elections, following its new low of winning only one federal seat and two state seats.
MCA president Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai said the party accepts the GE14 results and respects the decision of Malaysians.
“MCA will have a central committee meeting today.
“We will review the results of GE14 and its implications, set the future direction of MCA and strive to consolidate our structure in order to march forward,” he said.
MCA vice-president Datin Paduka Chew Mei Fun said she believed the political party “is still relevant and has a role to play in society”, asking for the party leadership to be given time to reflect and think of a new path forward.
MCA won only the Ayer Hitam seat in Johor out of the 39 parliamentary seats contested with a 303 majority vote in a three-corner race, and won only the two state seats of Titi Tinggi in Perlis and Cheka in Pahang out of the 90 contested in GE14.
The Titi Tinggi and Cheka state seats featured four-corner and three-corner fights and were won by a razor thin majority of 142 and 202 votes respectively.
Following MCA’s worst-ever showing in elections then in Election 2013, the political party was dubbed the “7-11” party — in reference to its win of only seven parliamentary seats and 11 state seats.
The Chinese-based party in the Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition had a better performance in Election 2008, where it won 15 federal seats and 32 state seats.
MCA’s performance in GE14 matches BN’s disastrous electoral outing, where the coalition lost power for the first time in history and recorded a historic low vote share of just over 36 per cent.
