NO REASON FOR MCA TO PULL OUT OF RULING BN COALITION, SAYS ONG KA CHUAN

IPOH (Malaysia), Sept 8 (Bernama) -- The Malaysian Chinese Association
(MCA) Secretary-General Ong Ka Chuan said Sunday there was no reason for the party to pull out of the ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition despite calls from the grassroots to do so.

He said MCA was not an outsider in the coalition and had been its founding member with United Malays National Organisation (Umno) and Malaysian Indian Congress (MIC) when they formed the Alliance party, which was later known as the BN.

"It is for this reason that if there are problems, we should resolve it
together.

"This is the spirit that we should inculcate among us rather than raising
up
the pull out issue. Pulling out will not resolve anything," he told reporters
in this northern city.

He said preserving the unity among the BN component parties was far more
important than squabbling among one another, more so in the wake of claims of
attempts to grab power from the BN on Sept 16.

"Actually, it's not so much about others toppling us. On the contrary, it's
about us toppling ourselves.

"We should learn from this and stop fighting and cease raising up issues
which will hurt the feelings of others. Let's work as a team within the whole
Malaysian context," he said.

Ong was commenting on the calls by several MCA Youth leaders Saturday,
urging the party leadership to consider pulling out of the BN if leaders of Umno
refused to change.

Meanwhile Umno Youth vice-chairman Khairy Jamaluddin hoped that the
problems
arising from several issues lately could be resolved in the spirit of goodwill
in the BN.

"There is no need for an ultimatum from any BN component party to pull out
of BN. We have been in the coalition for more than 50 years and I believe we can
solve this problem," he told reporters at a mosque near this city Sunday night.

-- BERNAMA
RT