KUALA LUMPUR, Dec. 21 (Xinhua) -- Malaysia's leading Chinese political party, Malaysian Chinese Association (MCA), elected a new leadership on Saturday as the party strives for revival after a devastating result in the May general election.

The incumbent deputy president Liow Tiong Lai, 52, was elected as the new president, while his running-mate and incumbent MCA Youth chief Wee Ka Siong, 45, won the deputy president race.

Both Liow and Wee are among a handful of MCA members who won in the recent election.

Liow, a former health minister, told a press conference after victory that the party polls came at a crucial moment as the party had performed poorly in two consecutive general elections.

MCA has been in the ruling coalition as the leading Chinese component party since the country achieved independence in 1957.

The party, which won 31 parliamentary seats in the 2004 general election, saw its seats slashed to 15 in 2008 before further downed to seven this year, contributing to the worst showing of the ruling coalition for decades.

MCA was further weakened by a series of infightings among its leaders, the latest one between Liow and the outgoing president Chua Soi Lek in October when a motion to condemn Liow was thwarted.

In his speech at MCA's general assembly Saturday, Prime Minister Najib Razak, who is also the head of the ruling coalition, urged MCA to"emerge as a coherent and united party"after the party polls.

He said the Chinese-ethnics minority, which makes up some 25 percent of the country's total populations, had made the"last call" for MCA.

The Chinese ethnics, who are more economically advanced, have long detested the government policies that favor the ethnic Malays and other indigenous groups that make up the majority of the population.

MCA was often criticized for its failure to stand up against the Malay-based United Malays National Organization (UMNO) that dominated the ruling coalition. In the general election in May, the Chinese voters sided overwhelmingly with the opposition.

Liow vowed to"transform"the MCA with the new leadership. He is expected to face an imminent test to seek approval to overturn an earlier resolution that bars MCA members from accepting cabinet posts due to its defeat in May.