In 2005, party elections were held for the malaysian Chinese association
(mCA) and Gerakan Raykat malaysia (Gerakan, or malaysian People’s
movement), the two main Chinese-based political parties in the ruling
Barisan nasional (Bn). These elections were unusual as the challengers
for the presidency were strong candidates and the incumbents had to
really fight to retain their presidency. This article argues that although
party contests will not bring any real change to the political position and
direction of the parties concerned, it does mean that party leaders can
no longer take for granted that their positions will not be challenged.
The trend among malaysian political parties has been for the top
position in a political party to be an uncontested post. This has meant
that party leaders stay for long periods at the top, often more than a
decade. The strong contests in the mCa and Gerakan also means that
the tenure for leaders of Chinese-based political parties in malaysia
may be limited.