KUALA LUMPUR: MCA vice president Datuk Ong Tee Keat said it is now time for BN to seriously explore a new way and mechanism for the selection of the country's prime minister.

He felt that the most crucial thing now is not about the issue of direct election of prime minister, as we are adopting the British system of democracy, where the leader of the political party with the largest number of seats in the Parliament--the BN president in our context--will be the natural choice for PM, which is different from the direct election exercised in other countries or territories.

"Therefore, the key to what we should explore now is not about direct election, but a new set of mechanisms."

On whether the prime minister should be elected by the people directly or be at least chosen by BN's component parties, he said even the British system could be different from what is being exercised in this country, as Britain does not have a coalition government like ours, but the Conservative, Labour, or Liberal parties.

He said during an exclusive interview with Sin Chew Daily, BN component parties take part in the elections under a unified BN logo, and BN is therefore a political entity. The largest party within BN is UMNO, and the UMNO president, who has been elected by UMNO delegates, will therefore become the BN president automatically.

"Now we have a different voice. Should the decision on the choice of BN president be made solely by UMNO delegates? Or whether it should, to some extent, be discussed at the BN Supreme Council meeting?

"The way of selecting the prime minister should be seriously deliberated. There are no untouchable models under the sun!"

He regretted that some people get irate when a certain issue or solution is being proposed.

"It will be very terrible if we don't even mention, or think about certain issues!"

On the cooperation among BN component parties, he said BN should review the existing mode of cooperation. Not only the core, even the fundamental framework should be redefined.

"For example, we're only talking about the allocation of resources and cooperation during the elections. However, the most fundamental element in the BN should have been the divisions, but so far we do not have a set of mechanisms that will truly integrate things like our resources, manpower and strategies."

In view of the power transition in the UMNO leadership, there have been voices calling for the deliberation of a mechanism for the selection of the head of government.

They feel that while UMNO president is automatically the country's prime minister, it may be necessary for the BN component parties to discuss the issue and strike some accord, since the prime minister is for the entire nation. (Translated by DOMINIC LOH/Sin Chew Daily)