ANALYSIS With PKR de facto leader Anwar Ibrahim announcing his candidacy and the Election Commission (EC) having set the date for the Kajang by-election, all eyes are now on MCA – as to who the party will send to face its ‘super-heavyweight’ rival.

Nevertheless, it seems, the problem currently faced by the Chinese-based BN party is whether the ‘chosen one’ should be a national leader able take on Anwar ( left ), or a grassroots leader familiar with local issues and who has a strong network in the 'satay town'.

Should MCA put up a national leader for this closely-watched by-election, it will show the commitment of the party to winning back Selangor, and this should also be able to convince Umno not to scramble for the Kajang seat as well.

However, if MCA fields an unknown local leader, it would be difficult to persuade Umno that he or she is the party's best candidate.

Several names have been put on table so far. Hulu Langat MCA division proposed its chief Lee Ban Seng, the division’s Youth chief Pung Wai Hung and Hulu Langat Wanita MCA chief Loh Lai Kuen as possible candidates.

Meanwhile, segments the mass media have speculated that several MCA national leaders, including vice-president Chew Mei Fun, Youth chief Chong Sin Woon and national organising secretary Yoo Wei How are also being considered as candidates.

It was reported that MCA will conduct a survey in Kajang to determine the popularity of Chew, Yoo, Pung and Loh.

Chew taking the lead?

Selangor MCA deputy chairperson Donald Lim believes the BN should send a strong national leader to contest, since Pakatan Rakyat is putting up its “number one guy” to defend the seat.

“Ultimately, the Klang Valley is the centre of the country and national issues will affect the views of the voters. These will become the leading issues in this election.

“The candidate will need to give some explanations (on the national issues), so a central leader will be more familiar with these issues,” Lim said when contacted by Malaysiakini yesterday.

He said it would be less convincing if MCA puts up a local person to talk about national issues.

According to Lim, who is heading the by-election special committee at the Selangor state level, the MCA central leadership is considering a woman candidate against Anwar and Chew ( right ) has the best chance to be selected.

One reason for this, he explained, was that half of the Kajang voters are women and  Anwar was facing “certain issues” at this same time – issues that Lim said are “unacceptable” among the women.

Asked whether the so-called “issues” include the prosecution's Sodomy II appeal that the parliamentary opposition leader is facing, Lim refused to give a direct answer, saying that he did not want to talk about that.  

Contacted by Malaysiakini , Chew denied that she has the highest chance to be picked as the candidate.

“All these are spread by you all. These are hearsay and speculated by you all,” she responded.

The former Wanita MCA chief stressed that MCA would not think about ‘locals’ or ‘outsiders’ when it comes deciding on the candidate.

“I think that if (the candidate is) suitable and has a higher chance of winning, then I will support him or her, no matter whether he or she is a local or an outsider,” Chew said, adding that MCA is yet to finalise its candidate.

Local candidate will have the advantage

Hulu Langat division chief Lee holds a different opinion from Lim. He strongly believes the MCA should send a local leader to contest the Kajang by-election.

“Can you tell me whether any person the party sends can guarantee that he or she will beat Anwar? No way.

“Unless you are saying that you are sending somebody who can definitely defeat Anwar, then I will agree (on that candidate). But there is no such person (in reality),” Lee ( left ) said.

He told Malaysiakini that local leaders have the advantage in terms of their networking with the local people, since they have served in Kajang for years.

The voters would consider giving MCA the chance since Anwar had forced this by-election and he had pissed-off the Kajang people.

Should the candidate selected be one of the locals, Lee said, he or she would also have no problem when national issues are raised.

“If Anwar plays up on national issues, we will play up national and local issues too. We are still holding the federal administration power and we will face him as a BN party.

“So, we can definitely can handle the national issues. As for local issues, it may not easy for Anwar to handle, so we have an advantage here,” he said.

Lee was defeated in the Kajang state seat in the 13th general election. He lost heavily.

Although he has been appointed to head the MCA by-election special committee at the division level, he said this would not affect his chances of being selected as the candidate.

He said he had been appointed to lead the Kajang BN campaign action committee during the last general election and yet he still contested the state seat.

No matter who the MCA decides to put against Anwar, he said, it would be a tough fight for the party.

As pointed out by the party Youth chief Chong, MCA must consider the “winning factors” of the candidate and not whether he or she is a local or an outsider.

“The ‘winning factors’, per se, are not to defeat Anwar, but to make sure the most remarkable result is produced and the person is well accepted by all the communities,” Chong said when contacted.

Meanwhile, MCA central committee Ti Lian Ker said there are no “fixed rules” when it comes to deciding the candidate, but it depends on the needs of the voters.

From national badminton ace Lee Chong Wei and MCA president Liow Tiong Lai ( right ) himself until now, the MCA decisions on candidates for election always attract attention and become a hot topic among the public.

Regardless of who the MCA picks, this will be a critical period for its new chief Liow, after the great defeats in the last two general-elections that the party suffered.

This is the first by-election for the MCA under Liow and it will be critical for him and the party – whether it wins, or at least – successfully trims down the votes for Anwar.