MCA Secretary-General Ong Ka Chuan said such a change was too big a step for party delegates to decide at the annual meeting.
The feelings of those who had joined the party in 1949 should not be neglected, he was quoted as saying today. “We have to respect their right to cast a vote if they want this fundamental change.”
Earlier this year, the MCA’s youth wing said it had been asked by party leader Liow Tiong Lai to broaden the party’s support and recruit non-Chinese as associate members.
Last month MCA Youth chairman Chong Sin Woon said a draft motion was being prepared for approval by the central committee. The proposal is to admit affiliate members and organisations in a transitional period before full admission of non-Chinese members.
The motion is to be submitted to the annual meeting next week.
However Ong told Sin Chew Daily in an interview published today that a party referendum should be held on the proposal.
“MCA was founded in 1949, what the current party constitution states is based on the historical environment then. Is it for us ― this generation ― to change it now? I think this decision is too big. It cannot be done sloppily, it should be studied carefully,” he was quoted as saying.
Ong said the central committee was not looking into the possible setting up of an MCA supporters’ club as an affiliate organisation and as a possible compromise to increase the party’s influence.
The MCA was a founding partner of the Alliance party which negotiated independence for Malaya, with membership open only to those of Chinese descent. In 1993, the party opened its doors to all Malaysians, including those with non-Chinese names, who have a Chinese mother or Chinese grandparents.
Membership of the other two partners, Umno and MIC, are restricted to Malays and Indians respectively. Most other political parties in the Barisan Nasional and opposition, although multiracial in principle, draw their support from one main ethnic group.