Despite agreeing that the concept of race-based parties is outdated, an MCA Youth leader today claimed that a majority of the electorates are still not ready to accept politics which goes beyond racial lines.

MCA Youth Young Professionals and University Students bureau chairperson, Eric Choo, said he personally believed this was true among the majority of voters and particularly in the rural areas.

"I agree that we should not have race-based politics, but I think we have an electorate at large who may not accept that model yet.

"We haven't got that kind of political maturity yet," said Choo at a youth conference held in Parliament, organised by the Center for Public Policy Studies (CPPS).

Choo said this when asked by a participant whether he felt that race-based parties, including the newly-launched Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu), are being viewed as outdated by the younger generation.

Bersatu pro tem committee member and youth group Challenger founder Syed Saddiq Abdul Rahman was among the presenters at the third CPPS roundtable discussion themed 'The Challenge of Retaining Talent in Malaysia'.

Pressed further on whether more should be done to advocate for politics and policies that go beyond racial lines, Choo said: "Advocating is one thing but the reality is that political party unfortunately wants to win elections."

"They (political parties) are not changing the electorate... they are just giving what the electorate wants," he said in noting that there was a lack of ideology-based parties on both sides of the political divide.

Choo also concurred with a view that many politicians in power lacked the foresight to look beyond championing agendas which could win them the next elections.
"There have been excessive politicking, excessive attack on individuals... not enough of (emphasis on) public policy.

"In order to change this, when we vote, we must look at the credibility of candidates and not just vote on party lines," he said.

Another participant later pointed out that 51 percent of the electorate had voted against BN's race-based parties in the 13th general election and cited the federal opposition's claims of taking over Putrajaya if it had been a free and fair election.

Choo, however, said that the statement was inaccurate as there was no evidence that a vote against BN was strictly to reject race-based parties.

At the same time, he also said that MCA Youth chief Chong Sin Woon has been among the first BN leaders to propose a move beyond racial politics.

The challenge for MCA, he said, would be to convince its older members and supporters to also share the same point of view.