If MCA wants to keep the unity it is enjoying, leaders should heed members' wishes to revert to the democratic process of free and fair party elections, said secretary-general Ting Chew Peh.

In a candid interview with malaysiakini , Ting spoke at length about internal rifts and the impact of a peace plan brokered last year by former premier and Barisan Nasional chairperson Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

He also outlined how consolidation has temporarily ensured that factional problems remain below the surface and away from the media glare.

"The majority just want a stable and united party," said Ting at his office in Wisma MCA, Kuala Lumpur.

"People still remember the Tan Koon Swan-Neo Yee Pan dispute which was very damaging. A lot of members say they do not want that again."

At the same time, grassroots members are in the mood to reject any new peace plan that could see the democratic process bypassed once more.

Leaders had accepted the peace plan as a practical and necessary bandaid. According to Ting, however, the plan went down less well with the grassroots.

"The peace plan was reflected as (being) a bit of a nightmare," he said.

"It is everyone's wish now that there will be no more peace plans. We will have to follow the constitution and let the general assembly decide their leaders (now due this October). This is the grassroots' voice," he said.

Change of heart

The Mahathir peace plan stopped political jostling because it introduced a no-contest rule for leaders' posts at the national and divisional levels, and deferred elections to August this year.

It ultimately led to the appointment of Ong Ka Ting as president and Chan Kong Choy as his deputy, while all national and divisional posts retained status quo.

At the time that the details of the plan were hammered out, Ting was among leaders who defended the proposal as a way to resolve differences between Team A led by former party chief Dr Ling Liong Sik ( left ), and Team B by deputy president Lim Ah Lek ( right ).

"Back when the peace plan was first proposed, I did say that it was one of the best solutions for the party at the time. But the solution has come at the cost of democracy," Ting said on reflection.

Healthy contest

Today, with the burden of disunity taken off, Ting said he felt that conditions are ripe for restoration of political competition.

The healthier the competition, the less likely members will be forced to resort to factionalism and dirty tactics, he noted.

If past experience is any indication, said observers, MCA's disunity has usually been in reaction to the authoritarian grip of a strong president as well as the purges employed.

Ling, during his 16 years at the helm, was able to decide on important decisions by merely consulting the presidential council, rather than the central committee or the general assembly.

An example was the RM230 million take over of Nanyang Press Holdings in May 2001. This led to the heightened acrimony that peppered the final few years of Ling's tenure.

Asked if the Mahathir peace plan had ended the factionalism that has affected MCA politics, Ting said: "Yes and no."

"It is a matter of degree. Some say there is no longer a Team A and a Team B. But how can anyone claim that? The reality is that factions exist in all parties," he said.

Electoral performance

However, he said party unity has improved following the general election concluded on March 21.

"We performed quite well, even though it wasn't as good as in 1999 in terms of the proportion of seats won," he said.

MCA dropped overall points, winning 31 of 40 parliamentary seats it contested, scoring a proportion of 77.5 percent. In 1999, its score was 80 percent, or 28 of 30 seats contested.

Elaborating, Ting said party consolidation had, in many ways, been aided by the natural selection that came into play through the electoral process - "those who did not perform saw themselves retrenched by voters".

While this makes sense at one level, MCA leaders do not always employ the same performance-based standard that it expects of voters, said observers.

Candidates who do not necessarily make much of an impact in Parliament have in the past been catapulted into top party posts.

Others who have consistently retained their parliamentary seats, like vice-president Chua Jui Meng, were dropped unceremoniously from the cabinet after the elections.

While Ting would not specifically comment on the issue, he did say that Chua would have a forum at the party elections to appeal to the grassroots and thereby keep his post as a vice-president.