KUALA LUMPUR: After 69 years and one million memberships, the Chinese-based MCA may open its door to other races.

MCA president Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai said a party reform committee (PRC) headed by his deputy Datuk Seri Dr Wee Ka Siong would study the matter.

While MCA is a communal party, Liow stressed that the party's struggle has always been for the betterment of the multi-ethnic nation and all Malaysians.

However, he said the party's huge defeat in the recent general election (GE14) shows that "what the party is, and what it has done" was not good enough.

He told the media this after chairing the MCA central committee meeting here on Saturday (May 19).

As the second largest Barisan Nasional component party, MCA won only one of the 39 parliamentary seats and two of the 90 state seats it contested in GE14.

Dr Wee retained the Ayer Hitam parliamentary seat and is the sole MCA MP.

MCA's Lee Ah Wong and Teh Chai Ann won the Cheka state seat in Pahang and Titi Tinggi state seat in Perlis respectively.

Barisan which won 79 parliamentary seats lost the Federal Government after 61 years in power.