Party president Datuk Seri Dr Chua Soi Lek said the MCA did not have to rebut everything that the Pasir Mas MP said.

“Maybe it is through this constant rebuttal that he (Ibrahim) finds a lot of publicity and gets enjoyment out of it,” Dr Chua told reporters when asked to comment on Ibrahim’s statement against the Chinese community.

He said Perkasa as an NGO may have the right to say what it wanted but the question was whether the people believed what it said.  

“People like Ibrahim Ali will always find his niche market, which I am sure would become smaller and smaller over time,” he said.

Dr Chua said most Malaysians subscribed to any leadership which was moderate, liberal, accommodating and pursued the middle path.

“It is not a zero-sum game where the Malays get it and the Chinese will not get it, or the Chinese getting it and the Malays will not. So it is important that all Malaysians know how to share the wealth of this country.

“That is the reason why we find 1Malaysia an attractive vision to move Malaysia forward,” he stressed.

MCA vice-president Gan Ping Sieu in a statement slammed former Selangor Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Dr Mohd Khir Toyo for his racist remarks which Gan claimed had driven away Chinese voters from Barisan Nasional.

He said the “racist-bent blog posting” by Dr Khir on Monday against the Chinese community in Selangor is one of the main stumbling blocks to BN seizing the state from Pakatan Rakyat.

“As a Selangor Barisan leader, Dr Khir must stop making such racist remarks as it will ultimately lead to the failure of the 1Malaysia concept promoted by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak.

“Let it be known that if racist diatribes are allowed to continue, it would be close to impossible for Barisan to overturn its loss of Selangor in the next general election,” he said.

In his blog, Dr Khir wrote that the Chinese community did not support the 1Malaysia concept and the New Economic Model as the majority of them supported Pakatan.

Rejecting this assessment, Gan cited the rise in Najib’s popularity ratings and the open endorsement of the Prime Minister’s programmes by the Associated Chinese Chambers of Commerce and Industry Malaysia.