VIDEO l 1:15 min

Former MCA president Ong Tee Keat said that the party should make public debates mandatory for candidates vying for the party's top posts.

At a press conference in Kuala Lumpur today, Ong said that such a debate should be an "essential" part of the process and he would like to make this it a reality should he be elected as the MCA president.

"Rather than letting outsiders host the debate, why don't MCA orginanise one by ourselves? I think it is possible to organize such an event at our own headquarters.

"And it should be open to the public and MCA members," he said.

All three MCA presidential candidates - Ong, Gan Ping Sieu and Liow Tiong Lai - had agreed in principle to a public debate earlier this week.

Following this, the Kuala Lumpur Selangor Chinese Assembly Hall, in collaboration with Malaysiakini , had offered to host the debate tomorrow, but only Gan had accepted the offer.

Both Ong and Liow were unable to attend the event due to prior commitments.

Expanding the voter base

Ong said he had tried, when he was party president for 17 months, to make public debates mandatory for candidates for the top positions, but he was unsuccessful.

Taking aim at Gan and Liow, Ong said the duo were the vice-president and deputy president respectively for three years and could have changed the election rules if they wanted to.

Meanwhile, Ong said that he has been consistent in trying to increase the voter base in MCA, to allow grassroots to elect national leaders.

"Not only the (2,385) central delegates, but also the branch presidents or division delegates elected from the branches should have the right to vote for the party leaders," he said.

Thus far, only two parties - Umno and PKR - have systems which allows party grassroots to vote for party's top leadership.

He added that if he was elected, he would restore the election of the state liaison committee, whose leader is currently appointed by the MCA president.