A strong and united party will regain the respect and confidence of the people, said MCA deputy secretary-general Wee Jeck Seng today.

Hence, he urged MCA members to put their differences aside and find ways to strengthen the party in order to win back the people's votes in the next general election.

"We must be united and avoid factions within the party. We need to take action now and revive MCA," he said when officially opening the Penampang MCA division annual general assembly.

Wee (right) said the 13th general election took a toll on MCA that it hit rock bottom and while another reason for the party's bad performance was that some of its members were found not to have cast their votes for an MCA candidate.

"Take for example, the Kajang by-election recently when some 40 percent (of MCA members) asked why they should vote for an MCA candidate," he said.

    

In this regard, Wee said the party had appointed an independent body to gauge whether its candidates would be winnable in future elections.

He said this was one of the steps undertaken by a committee gearing up for the 14th general election.

He also urged MCA members to connect with the grassroot communities as they understood the party's struggle.

- Bernama