KUALA LUMPUR, March 4 (Bernama) -- MCA leaders must get their priorities right by focusing on the next general election now instead of harping on the need to have fresh party polls first, MCA president Datuk Seri Ong Tee Keat said today.

Ong, who is Transport Minister, said there was no point in winning the battle at the party level only to lose the war in the next general election.

"At a time when tension in the party has somewhat eased and the overwhelming majority of members want to move on, I think we should rightly focus on gearing up for the next general election.

"If you want to talk about pride and honour, show it in your deeds to the people, not about party positions. The prime minister's slogan is 'People First', not "Positions First". Let's get our priorities right," he said in a interview with Bernama today ahead of the upcoming MCA 56th annual general assembly here on Sunday.

Ong reiterated that he had consistently maintained that the party polls should be held and the only thing was that the party needed to find a good time for it to be held.

He said action taken by certain quarters to put up banners criticising him and his deputy, Datuk Seri Dr Chua Soi Lek, at the MCA Chinese New Year open house on Feb 14 was an unnecessary development which had taken place on one of the most auspicious days for the Chinese community.

Though saying that he was willing to forgive those responsible, he said the action was certainly not healthy.

"But I wouldn't want to call this one-off episode a trend. Perhaps, there were some who were emotional over certain developments in the party. They may have acted rashly or become too emotional. I will never allow such antics to get the better of me. Let's get our priorities right and focus on moving forward," he said.

On speculation that some people may want to disrupt this weekend's AGM, Ong said he was not sure if that was true.

"Why would anyone want to disrupt a legal meeting to discuss important national and party matters? Why would anyone want to stir trouble at a time when the public is watching the MCA closely, especially after the setback of March 8?

"Surely, mature party leaders and members would want to use the AGM to find ways to win back public support in time for the next general election," he said.

Asked if he would hold talks with the faction headed by party vice-president and Health Minister Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai to "solve the issue once and for all," Ong maintained that his door was always open to those who were sincere in returning to the fold and uniting the party for the people's benefit.

Liow, together with 12 other Central Committee (CC) members, had been pushing for fresh polls but to no avail after having failed to secure the required support of two-thirds or 21 out of a total of 44 members of the CC.

After the setback in terms of garnering support, Liow's faction announced that it would stay away from party functions, particularly those involving Ong and Dr Chua. Interestingly, some of them did turn up at the party's Chinese New Year open house attended by prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak.

During the interview, Ong reiterated that he intended to fulfil his electoral pledge of further democratising the party where the party initially planned to expand the electoral system into one-member-one-vote.

"It hit us that the plan was too ambitious and it would be a logistical nightmare to implement it. Now, we are in the midst of fine-tuning the system to broaden the voter base and several proposals are being studied. If everything goes well, we should be able to put it in place by the next election," he said.

Ong also hoped that party members, leaders as well as the Malaysian Chinese community, would continue to support the party strongly "as it claws its way back to redeeming its pride" in the 13th general election.

"We should never lose sight of this. To the Malaysian Chinese and those from other races, I'd like to assure them that the MCA has learnt from some of its past mistakes. We are changing and moving forward. The MCA will not let the people down." (By ALAN TING/Bernama)