PETALING JAYA: MCA Members of Parliament were elected to serve the people and they will continue to do so, said party secretary-general Datuk Seri Ong Ka Chuan.

He said there was no question of them quitting to join the Pakatan Rakyat opposition alliance.

Ong, who is the Housing and Local Government Minister, said MCA MPs understood their responsibility as the people’s representatives and had signed a declaration of loyalty to the party.

“They have principles and are loyal to the party as well as to the Barisan Nasional. Anwar Ibrahim has used a dirty trick to drive a wedge between the Barisan component parties,” he said in a statement.

Ong, who is the Tanjung Malim MP, was responding to remarks by the PKR adviser that several MCA MPs would join PKR soon and that MCA would likely be the first to leave Barisan.

The party, which contested 40 parliamentary seats in the general election, has 15 MPs.

MCA Youth chief Datuk Liow Tiong Lai said he was confident that MPs would not be easily swayed.

“The MCA will always be with the Barisan Nasional as the party is one of the founders of the Alliance coalition,” he said.

Liow, who is the Bentong MP and Health Minister, described Anwar’s move as “trying to create instability to gain political mileage for himself”.

MCA Publicity Bureau chief Datuk Fu Ah Kiow hit out at Anwar, saying his remarks were nothing more than a cheap stunt to generate publicity for himself.

“Obviously Anwar is up to no good. This is part of his strategy to make his comeback with the whole purpose of chasing after the Prime Minister’s post,” he said in a statement.

Acknowledging that Barisan had gone through trials and tribulations, Fu said the ruling coalition had always stuck together “through thick and thin”.

On Sunday, Anwar said in Penang that MCA should top the list when he was asked which party he thought would leave Barisan.

“MCA is supposed to represent the Chinese community in Malaysia but the party has failed to do so.

“Therefore, it is time for it to review why Barisan has failed in addressing the interests of all communities in the country and in managing the country's economy,” he said after opening Pantai Jerejak assemblyman Sim Tze Tzin's service centre in Bukit Jambul.