Former MCA president Lee San Choon said he had encountered "sabotage from an Umno top leader" during the 1982 general election, but stressed that he never said the culprit was, as speculated previously, Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad, according to a report today.

He said the Umno leader, whom he refused to name, had persuaded Malay voters in the Seremban parliamentary constituency to vote for opposition candidate, Dr Chen Man Hin, who was then DAP chairperson.

They (Umno) thought if you (MCA) were so independent, then you would not need the Malay vote, he was quoted as saying during an interview with Chinese daily Nanyang Siang Pau , adding that that was very naive [of them].

According to my estimation then, I should have won by a majority vote of 3,000 to 4,000. But it turned out to be only 885. Then I found out there was sabotage, added the 68-year-old retired politician.

Lee took over as MCA president from the late Tun Tan Siew Sin in April 1974.

A former school teacher and the only Mandarin-educated MCA chief ever, Lee developed a strong following within the Chinese community through implementation of programmes to safeguard their economic and educational interests during the New Economic Policy era.

Lee delivered the biggest win of MCA for the Barisan Nasional during the 1982 general election. The party won 24 out of 28 seats it contested.

The most dramatic victory was in Seremban, where Lee defeated DAPs Chen in the latters stronghold.

In 1983, Lee resigned unexpectedly from all posts, citing his wish to pave way for new blood in the party.

It was widely speculated that his stepping down was due to his deteriorating relationship with Mahathir, helmsman of the ruling coalition since 1981, who did not favour Lee.

Proof

However, Lee stressed yesterday that the Umno top leader who sabotaged his election campaign was not Mahathir.

In fact, I told him (Mahathir) about the sabotage when he passed by Seremban during the campaign period. But knowing that he had a busy schedule, I did not expect him to do anything, he said.

Asked if he had any concrete evidence about the sabotage, Lee replied, Of course I will not simply make an allegation without proof, or else I would not have told Mahathir about it.

He declined to name the leader concerned despite repeated questions from Nanyang Siang Pau .