A survey of 805 Malaysian adults showed that 34 percent of respondents have favoured MCA president Ong Tee Keat as the leader of the party.

azlan The poll, commissioned internally by independent pollster Merdeka Centre, had asked the respondents who they thought was able to lead the party from a list of six MCA figures.

This survey comes just ahead of the MCA party elections on Sunday, where 2,400 delegates will choose between Tee Keat, his former deputy Dr Chua Soi Lek and former party president Ong Ka Ting.

Tee Keat is trailed by Chua, who 12 percent of respondents favour as the leader of the party while only 10 percent were in favour of Ka Ting.

Ka Ting's elder brother Ka Chuan, who is formerly the party secretary-general and one time Housing and Local Government Minister, scraped the bottom of the barrel with only 2 percent believing that he can lead the party.

Merdeka Centre director Ibrahim Suffian told Malaysiakini the survey showed that Tee Keat has done "some things right" after taking the reins of the party in August 2008.

"But the respondents do not see an outright strong contender for the party presidency. Everybody has pros and cons," he said.

PKFZ exposé improved MCA's standing

NONE Nearly 70 percent of respondents want to see Tee Keat and Ka Ting contest for the party presidency. Only 20 percent of respondents urged the duo not to contest.

However, only 50 percent of respondents were keen to have Chua contest for the post while 33 percent want him to stay out.

Respondents were also asked of their opinions on Tee Keat's character, of which 72 percent agreed that he was "brave/courageous", 45 percent agreed he was "authoritarian", 43 percent agreed that he could "stand up to Umno", 39 percent agreed he was "clean" and 37 percent agreed that he "lacked principles".

azlan Almost half of the respondents, at 43 percent, agreed that "someone" had instigated the MCA crisis because Tee Keat ( left ) had initiated a probe on the Port Klang Free Zone scandal.

When asked if Tee Keat's decision to highlight the PKFZ scandal had "improved" or "damaged" MCA's reputation, the overall responses for both options were tied at 39 percent.

Interestingly, most Chinese and Indian respondents said MCA's reputation had improved because of this. Malay respondents mostly felt that the exposé was damaging.

"As you can see, 51 percent of Chinese respondents believe that MCA's standing had improved because of the action taken on the PKFZ scandal.

"There is a greater sense of democratic awareness within the Chinese community. They have a tradition of appreciating trustworthy leaders who are able to clean things up," said Ibrahim.

'MCA still relevant'

However, when asked if Tee Keat will win this Sunday, only 14 percent of the Chinese respondents replied "yes", 37 percent replied "no" and 47 percent replied "don't know".

Indian and Malay respondents were more optimistic of Tee Keat's chances at 55 percent and 41 percent respectively.

Meanwhile, 62 percent of respondents agreed that MCA was still relevant to the Chinese community and raising issues important to them.

Respondents who were in agreement to this statement were marginally higher than Malay and Indian respondents.

azlan Ibrahim explained that though MCA may have suffered in the 2008 general elections, and there is no proof that it is regaining support of the Chinese community, its does not mean that it is no longer relevant to the community.

"Relevance does not translate to voting patterns. MCA is now an alternative to the DAP. I'm pleasantly surprised by the level of interest shown in the party," he said.

He said there is also heightened awareness now about the party and its issues because it has been grabbing the media spotlight of late.

"Because the problems within the party have been going for so long, people are looking at the coming elections with hope that a resolution would be found," he said.

Asked why many of the questions was centered on Tee Keat, Ibrahim said the survey was designed to be compact and that the former was defending his post.

"Since he is the incumbent, we want to focus on his prospects and what people are saying about him," said Ibrahim.

A press release and summary of the survey can be downloaded from Merdeka Centre's official website .