The upcoming Indera Kayangan by-election has given three Chinese Malaysian lobby groups an opportunity to advance their cause and publicly state their stand against the MCA candidate.

The Committee Against Takeover of Nanyang Press by MCA (CAT), Writers Alliance for Media Independence (Wami) and Save Our School Committee of SJK(C) Damansara (SOS) have joined the demonstrations together with Barisan Nasional and Barisan Alternatif supporters today to witness the nominations of their candidates at Wisma Warisan

While waiting for the nominations to be announced, committee members of the lobby groups went around distributing leaflets to potential voters.

CAT coordinator Tang Ah Chai said the forthcoming election will be a referendum on the takeover of Nanyang Press - publisher of two major Chinese dailies - by MCA.

Tang said while there were three possible candidates who are not involved in the Nanyang controversy, MCA has insisted on retired Chinese school headmistress Oui Ah Lan, who was one of the 32 central committee members who voted for the takeover.

"It is obvious that MCA hopes to justify the takeover and this strategy is challenging the Chinese community's disapproval of the matter," said Tang.

Tang said MCA will seek to avoid the takeover issue in its campaign to capture the support of uninformed voters.

Press freedom

CAT urged all supporters in Indera Kayangan to refrain from "naively" overlooking the issue of press freedom and media independence in the by-election.

"A vote for Oui, regardless of other considerations, would only reinforce BN's arrogance, control and manipulation of the media," said Tang.

"On the other hand, voting against MCA in this by-election may lead to a different outcome of the Nanyang disaster," he added.

Tang said in Lunas, the voters have made the BN withdraw, albeit temporarily, its unpopular scheme of Vision Schools.

"In Indera Kayangan, the main issue is how Nanyang Press, The Sun and all other media will be treated," said Tang.

Last May, MCA bought Chinese dailies Nanyang Siang Pau and China Press , both under the Nanyang Press group, for RM230 million. This was stringently opposed by the Chinese Malaysian community, who fear that editorial independence of the two newspapers would be undermined.

Wami and SOS will be issuing statements after handing over their memorandums to both candidates.