NO ONE FROM MCA HAS BALLS

Jui Meng: I’m no political opportunist

KUALA LUMPUR (Aug 10, 2009) : Former MCA vice-president Datuk Chua Jui Meng, who crossed over to Parti Rakyat Keadilan (PKR) last month, says he is no opportunist.

Chua Jui Meng

In an interview with Sin Chew Daily published today, he said he had put forward many proposals that raised the ire of Umno when he was still with MCA but no one from the party dared to back him up.

"If I am an opportunist, who isn’t?" he asked.

Chua, 65, took exception for being labelled an opportunist for crossing over to PKR, and gave examples to show that he is not opportunistic, including his proposal for the abolition of the New Economic Policy (NEP); his proposal for MCA to withdraw from the Barisan Nasional (BN) to break away from Umno’s control; and turning down Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s invitation to join PKR prior to the last general election even though he knew MCA would not let him contest the election.

He said he openly stated everything. "Did anyone (from MCA) dare to say it? They did not even dare to support me. Why wasn’t I labelled an opportunist then?"

Chua said he first proposed the scrapping of NEP while he was a minister and he would not have done so to jeopardise his government post if he was an opportunist.

He said when he proposed the scrapping of the NEP, no one from MCA, Chinese organisations or Chinese business groups dared to back him up, and nobody said he was opportunistic.

He also pointed out that in 2005, while he was still MCA vice-president, he took on then prime minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi’s son-in-law Khairy Jamaluddin for a TV debate on the NEP, and he spoke up for the Chinese and Indians.

"Did any other Chinese politician in the country dare to utter what Chua Jui Meng said? Did anyone dare to debate with Khairy then?"

Chua disclosed that he was invited to join PKR before the last general election and given an offer to contest a seat of his choice but he opted to stay with MCA despite the knowledge that he would not be nominated by the party to contest the election because he was hoping that the leadership would reform the party.

"If I were an opportunist, would I have done so?" he asked.

Chua, who made two unsuccessful bids for the party top post in the later part of his 33 years with MCA, could have chosen to retire quietly and be "a well-respected party veteran" but opted to embark on a new political journey with the Opposition to realise his ambition to seek reforms.

Asked if it is not too late for him to make such a decision, he said: "In everyone’s life, there exists an opportune time for one to do a certain thing. And this is the most opportune moment for me".

He explained that this is the best time to form the two-party system and the most opportune time to reform (the country).

Chua added that because he had proposed the abolition of NEP, Umno had regarded him as a thorn in the flesh and tried to prevent him from becoming MCA president in the last party election.

Updated: 07:14PM Mon, 10 Aug 2009