We stood by Dr Mahathir too, says MCA
MCA secretary-general Ong Ka Chuan says party has never gone against the Barisan Nasional leadership even at the worst of times.
This reminder came after Mahathir criticized the Chinese-based party in his blog posting entitled “Associating With Thieves”.
Among the criticisms Mahathir hurled was that MCA had no principle and that it was nothing more than a puppet for Umno and Najib.
In a statement issued today, MCA secretary-general Ong Ka Chuan said “through thick and thin” MCA had always stood by the BN leadership, which at one time had included Mahathir himself.
He pointed out how in 1988, the Supreme Court declared Umno as illegal and a new party, Umno Baru, was formed.
“At that time, the then MCA president held the position of BN chairman, and by that token was prime minister for a day, before Umno Baru was admitted into BN in order for Mahathir to continue being the prime minister,” he said.
He also cited two incidents in 1998 where MCA had stood by the former prime minister while he was under attack by his former deputy Anwar Ibrahim.
“When Malaysia suffered during the 1998 financial crisis and (then finance minister) Anwar Ibrahim wanted the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to come in, MCA stood firmly with Mahathir in opposing such a proposal to defend our country’s economic sovereignty.
“Also, at the height of the Reformasi movement when many people took to the streets to support Anwar, MCA stood firmly with Mahathir.”
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“In the history of MCA, our party has never ditched the Alliance or the BN coalition. Internally, the party may have experienced hiccups which were swiftly resolved, but our relationship with other BN components remains firmly entrenched.”