Malaysia

The Malaysian Chinese Association (Malaysia Chinese Association) held its 70th anniversary party on the 2nd.

    Founded on February 27, 1949, the Malaysian Chinese Association has been in the ruling coalition for a long time and has become an important political force in the Malaysian political arena. However, in recent elections, the MCA’s seats in parliament have gradually declined.

    In May last year, the National Front of Malaysia (BN), where the MCA is located, lost for the first time in the general election. The MCA also became an opposition party and retained only one seat in the House of Commons.

    At the first party celebration held after becoming an opposition party, "MCA Come on" resounded throughout the venue and became the main slogan of the conference. In order to “refuel”, the MCA has launched a number of new measures, hoping to boost morale.

    As an opposition party, the MCA announced the establishment of 9 cabinet monitoring teams. The President of the Malaysian Chinese Association, Wei Jiaxiang, said that these 9 groups include supervision of all government departments, and supervise the governance and performance of various departments based on the principles of rational political discussion and professional consultation.

    Wei Jiaxiang also stated that the important goal of the new leadership of the MCA is to push young cadres to the forefront and "invest in the future." Not only is the majority of the nine groups established this time composed of young cadres, the MCA has also established a new youth speech platform on the party celebration, allowing six young party members to speak on stage and express their views.

    Wei Jiaxiang said that "MCA 1.0" will be upgraded to "MCA 2.0", but he admitted that the MCA must return to the political mainstream and become a party widely recognized by the Chinese "not a short-term achievement."

    MCA’s general secretary Zhou Meifen said frankly on the day of the party that the MCA has lost the support of Chinese votes in the past few elections. Judging from the recent parliamentary by-elections, although the MCA’s "strength", the Chinese The return of votes is still "disappointing."

    In addition, in dealing with the relationship between Barisan Nasional, the MCA Congress at the end of last year authorized the Central Committee to promote the dissolution of Barisan Nasional and form a new alliance. Zhou Meifen stated at the party celebration conference on February 26 that the MCA has sent a letter to the Barisan Nasional Supreme Council to discuss the dissolution of Barisan Nasional, but the continuous by-elections have delayed the progress. Wei Jiaxiang said on the day of the party that he would wait for the Supreme Council of the Barisan Nasional to convene, "hurry up and make a conclusion."

    Many observers here believe that for this 70-year-old party, there are still many problems that need to be resolved if it is to smoothly "refuel" and start again.