MCA president Dr Chua Soi Lek is adopting a clinical approach in selecting winnable candidates to be fielded by BN in the next general election.

He said MCA would ensure that its candidates for both parliamentary and state seats would not only help BN to win but also help the party to receive continued support from the people.

"I need to be clinical about it, regardless of whether they're my supporters or not," he said in an interview with several media organisations today.

NONE Chua said those who had served many terms should consider giving way to younger leaders as the party should not be seen as one with "recycled products".

"If the person is a winnable candidate, he or she can continue but the person has to use political wisdom (on when) to call it a day," he said.

The MCA president observed that some leaders wanted to cling on to their positions and seek to be re-nominated to contest in the next general election, but their numbers were small

"There're also some wakil rakyat who have told me that they don't want to serve or contest anymore," he said, citing Kedah MCA chairperson Chong Itt Chew, Tan Kok Hong (Johor state executive councillor), former MCA president Ong Ka Ting (MP for Kulai) and Teng Boon Soon (current Tebrau MP), as examples.

Chua said MCA conducted a survey in 10 constituencies recently to determine the factors that would sway voters' decisions in choosing candidates.

Candidate a major factor for voters

Feedback from the survey showed that the candidate factor would play a major role, as far as voters were concerned.

"It boils down to whether the candidate will deliver, is people-friendly or not, and whether the person can actually serve the rakyat. This is important," he said, adding that the level of support for a candidate was also important.

Chua said findings from the survey dispelled the notion that only candidates from divisions in the same constituencies would emerge victorious.

He noted that sending leaders to contest in a different constituency was nothing new to the MCA.

During the hour-long interview, he reiterated that should MCA fare poorly  in the next general election, the party would not accept various public positions, ranging from those in the village development and security committees and all the way to senatorships and ministerships.

"We've made this decision after much deliberation. It's not meant to threaten the Chinese community but more towards respecting the people's decision. If we don't get support from the people, we'll lose our legitimacy," he said.

He pointed out that the decision should galvanise party members who were facing a common enemy.

"Therefore, they should be united and not try to sabotage the party. If that happens, it'll affect not only their own party but also their positions," he added.

- Bernama