BN candidate for Tg Piai – MCA respects coalition's procedure
Amid speculation on whether MCA will recontest the Tanjung Piai parliamentary seat in the coming by-election, party president Wee Ka Siong said a formal announcement on BN's candidate will be jointly made by all three component parties.
"We have made a decision today [...] we have discussed at length about the by-election...
Amid speculation on whether MCA will recontest the Tanjung Piai parliamentary seat in the coming by-election, party president Wee Ka Siong said a formal announcement on BN's candidate will be jointly made by all three component parties.
"We have made a decision today [...] we have discussed at length about the by-election.
"I met with BN chairperson Ahmad Zahid Hamidi today for more than one hour," he told a press conference at the party headquarters in Kuala Lumpur.
"Because we (MCA) respect the standard operating procedure for any by-election, the (candidate) announcement will collectively be made at the central level.
"Most importantly, we must work hard to ensure the seat returns to BN," he added.
Quizzed if MCA indicated its intention to re-contest the seat, Wee declined to comment and reiterated that he had discussed various related matters with Zahid.
"I had said the most important thing is to discuss with the BN chairperson, and I, as MCA president, have had a discussion.
"This (discussion) is a normal thing, but (later) when the appointment letter is issued, we want to ensure that our candidate, the BN candidate will win. That is my priority," he said.
The Tanjung Piai parliamentary seat was left vacant following the death of Dr Mohd Farid Mohd Rafik on Sept 21.
Pakatan Harapan seized the Tanjung Piai seat from MCA through Mohd Farid - who was a Bersatu member - in last year's general election.
Mohd Farid won the seat from incumbent Wee Jeck Seng by a narrow margin of 524 votes. He received 21,255 votes.
Another defeated candidate PAS's Nordin Othman garnered 2,962 votes meaning that BN and it's new ally PAS would, in theory, have more votes this time around combined than Harapan.
The parliamentary constituency has nearly 54,000 voters, with 57 percent being Malay compared to 42 percent Chinese.
It is traditionally an MCA seat and was previously held by then MCA president Ong Ka Ting.
However, based on current trends, it is possible that the seat will be contested by a Malay candidate from Umno.
Former Johor menteri besar Mohamed Khaled Nordin has been named as one of the potential candidates to contest the seat.
