Umno supreme council member Mohamed Nazri Abdul Aziz said he is closer to DAP than MCA because it is the former that can garner Chinese support.

He said this in response to MCA central committee member Ti Lian Ker, who complained that Nazri appears closer to DAP despite winning in the general election under BN, which was helped by all component parties including MCA.

"I am good with (DAP secretary-general) Lim Guan Eng because I respect democracy as the Chinese community chose Lim Guan Eng and DAP.

"So I have to respect democracy and respect them (DAP). Why would I want to respect Ti when the people reject him.

"I am confident even if he were to contest in the general election, the rakyat will also reject him because the Chinese people truly hate people like him," Nazri told Malaysiakini.

Nazri added that he shared a good relationship with MCA's top leadership, but it was sullied by certain MCA members.

"I know MCA leaders well and have a good working relationship with them.

"But boys like these spoil the relationship. My relationship with the MCA president, vice-presidents are very good and intimate," he said.

Nazri then accused Ti of wanting to make a comeback in the next general election.

"I got to know he was dropped from contesting in Kuantan last time because (then MCA president) Chua Soi Lek got rid of him.

"He was an executive councillor and Chua Soi Lek discarded him. Even his own party did not want him.

"He is good with (current MCA president) Liow Tiong Lai so he wants to be a candidate (in the next election) but my advice is if you let him contest in Kuantan, MCA will lose," he said.

Nazri and Ti had been engaged in a war of words after the latter urged Umno to abandon its "Jaguh Kampung" (village hero) politics.

Ti had said that Umno's strategy of fear-mongering along racial and religious lines to gain Malay support in the countryside, came at the expense of BN component parties and urban support.

This prompted a barrage of insults at MCA and Ti.

Subsequently, Ti complained that Nazri was kinder to the opposition than his BN partners, after the latter had urged Umno to abandon its "Jaguh Kampung" politics.

Ti had said that Umno's strategy of fear-mongering along racial and religious lines to gain Malay support in the countryside, came at the expense of BN component parties and urban support.

“He has kinder words for DAP and at times I wonder whether he is courting DAP...

"If people like Nazri are not happy with the BN components, he can leave and join DAP of which he's seen to be more comfortable with," said Ti.

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