Rising tension among the ranks of the BN party leaders in Malacca will not affect its performance in the general coming election, coalition officials say.

Despite having publicly lashed out at Umno, Gerakan secretary-general Teng Chang Yeow said, election results are normally "only affected by issues within the constituency".

penang gerakan egm 101010 teng chang yeow Last week, Teng ( at right in picture, wearing glasses ) fired salvoes at Malacca Chief Minister Mohd Ali Rustam for stating that a "winnable" candidate should be given a chance to contest in the Bachang state constituency, where Gerakan was defeated twice - in 1999 and 2008.

In a open letter issued two days ago, Teng said Ali's statement was akin to a threat and gave credence to speculation that the general election might be called by the end of this year or by the beginning of next year.

'A frustrated group of people'

"It's disgusting that certain quarters within Malacca Gerakan, who are close to the state BN chairperson (Ali), are running down the Malacca Gerakan leadership in front of him.

"I want to warn these people against smearing the Malacca Gerakan leadership for their own gain. They are just a frustrated group of people who have rightly guessed that they wouldn't be considered as candidates for the seat in the coming general election," he said.

Gerakan president Koh Tsu Koon has also insisted on retaining the status quo and urged coalition partners to use internal mechanisms to air their views.

In an open letter to Malacca Gerakan, Teng said the party would not back down from contesting in Bachang, as well as in the other constituencies the party had fielded candidates previously, despite the losses suffered.

"Why only they (Umno) can talk on this matter (publicly) but others (can't)? If other people talk about it, but then they don't want to discuss it," he told Malaysiakini.

"If Umno is not prepared to quarrel with us openly, then it should not say this publicly. If they want to make it public, we will also publicise it," said Teng, adding that the issue was never raised internally.

Umno 'arrogant' about its stronghold

DAP Bachang assemblyperson Lim Jak Wong said "infighting" within the BN factions would affect the election results.

Lim felt the reason Umno wanted to take over the Bachang seat was because Malacca is a stronghold for the party.

The BN controls 23 out of the 28 state seats - Umno (18), MCA (4) and MIC (1) - while Pakatan Rakyat member DAP won five.

"Malacca is the only state that Umno (was) able to win all the seats it contested, this is why Malacca Umno is so proud.

"This makes the party so arrogant that it thinks it can win over Bachang... this has nothing to do with the ‘BN spirit'," Lim said, mockingly.

Nevertheless, he insisted that his constituents would back the opposition in Bachang in the event the general election is called ahead of 2013.

"My service in Bachang has shown me the Malay voters are very stable, that they consistently support Pakatan. No matter whether the candidate is from Umno, Gerakan or MCA, I will face them with a placid mind," he added.