MCA president Dr Chua Soi Lek has blamed possible internal sabotage for Barisan Nasional’s failure to capture Chinese votes during the Hulu Selangor by-election.

During a press conference at the MCA headquarters in Kuala Lumpur today, Chua said the party will take action against party members who have worked against BN.

"I myself have seen it. When I went to Kuala Kubu Baru on polling day, a polling station that was supposed to be manned by two (MCA) branches was totally deserted.

"If they did not even come to help, I don't think they voted for BN," said Chua sternly.

Although BN managed to clinch the Hulu Selangor by-election on Sunday by 1,725 votes, the coalition fared miserably among the Chinese voters, among which an estimated 72 percent voted PKR.

Chua said he has instructed secretary-general Kong Cho Har to conduct a three-week study the sabotage claims and the root cause of BN's dismal efforts to draw Chinese support. 

He also claimed that MCA’s campaign was handicapped because the Selangor government was in the hands of Pakatan Rakyat.

“After the last general election, Selangor became an opposition state. (There were) changes in the new villages… All the facilities we had were taken over by the state government,” he said.

As a result, Chua said that MCA lost its positions in the village development and security committee (JKKK) and local councils.

‘We made improvements’

In spite of the shortcomings, Chua stressed the party did make progress eventhough the by-election results indicated a drop in Chinese support for the MCA since the last general election.

“Before the by-election was announced, survey in Hulu Selangor showed that the Chinese support had dropped to 14 percent but it later went up to 28 percent. So we did make progress post-March 2008,” he claimed.

The newly-minted president also criticised Perkasa chairperson Ibrahim Ali for his recent remarks, calling on the government to withhold election promises for the Chinese community in Hulu Selangor for voting against BN.

“People like Ibrahim Ali will always find his ‘niche market’ but we are confident that it will become smaller and smaller over time. Maybe it is the constant rebuttals and free publicity where he derives a lot of enjoyment,” he said.

In an unrelated development, Chua stood by his claim during the Hulu Selangor by-election campaign that Chinese independent schools students with Unified Examination Certificate (UEC) quaification are eligible for the PTPTN loan to study in private universities locally.

“According to the letter that I obtained, it made no mention of the need for SPM qualification... Higher Education Minister Mohamed Khaled Nordin also did not mention about the need for a pass in Malay Language when I met him,” said Chua while displaying the letter to the press.

Khaled had today told a separate press conference in Kuala Lumpur that a pass in Malay Language at SPM is a prerequisite for applying for the loan.