PUTRAJAYA, Aug 9 — Selangor MCA’s embattled chairman Datuk Donald Lim has pledged to relinquish his post if the Barisan Nasional (BN) party fails to capture more seats in the frontline state in the coming polls.
The deputy finance minister acknowledged the uphill task ahead of him but told The Malaysian Insider that he was confident the party’s state chapter would perform better than it did in 2008.
“As far as Selangor is concerned, this means that I cannot handle it well,” he conceded, when met on the sidelines of a breaking fast function with Cabinet ministers at the prime minister’s Seri Perdana residence here last night.
Lim however said his post as MCA vice-president was a separate matter and did not reveal if he would relinquish the position as well.
The MCA was nearly wiped out from Selangor during Election 2008 and only won two of the 14 state seats and one out of the seven parliamentary seats it contested. Lim was among the many casualties, losing his Petaling Jaya Selatan parliamentary seat to PKR’s Hee Loy Sian who had a 5,706-vote majority.
Earlier yesterday, MCA president Datuk Seri Dr Chua Soi Lek conceded that some leaders in the party’s Selangor chapter were “lazy” and said he knew who they were but insisted that this may not spell the party’s demise in the country’s richest state.
He was commenting on The Malaysian Insider’s weekend report on the MCA’s lacklustre leadership in Selangor, in which one party leader predicted a total wipe-out for the party come the 13th general election.
State MCA leaders had told The Malaysian Insider that while Umno may be brimming with confidence that it can recapture Selangor in the next elections, there are fears that a lethargic MCA could lose the game for the coalition.
They also pointed the finger at Selangor MCA chief Lim for the party’s sluggish state in Selangor.
But in his defence, Lim told The Malaysian Insider that he knew the Selangor electorate well and labelled them as mostly “anti-establishment”.
“I have been in Selangor for a long time... I have been a division chairman for quite a while and, of course, I understand Selangor very well. Who is who in Selangor, we know.
“Yes, it is not easy and we have to face reality so we have to place the best candidate. We cannot guarantee things but if we can field a winnable candidate, I believe people will give us a chance,” he said.
He admitted that the Selangor Chinese electorate was among the one of the most discerning catchment of voters in Malaysia and attributed this to their level of education and access to information.
“Of course, the overall scenario... we know that people in the urban areas tend to be more anti-establishment... and Selangor is 93 per cent urban and suburban.
“Most of our (MCA) seats are urban and suburban and a majority of these people are educated, have access to information so we have to face reality. But to say we are weak, it is not entirely true... We definitely can do better than the last round,” he said.
Lim said the MCA was banking its hope in Selangor largely on the candidates the party plans to field for the coming polls, said likely to be held within the next few months.
On his candidacy, Lim kept mum, saying the decision would be left up to his party president Dr Chua and BN chairman Datuk Seri Najib Razak.
According to figures from Election 2008, of the over 1.5 million registered voters in Selangor, the Malay electorate makes up 50.7 per cent, while the Chinese make up 34.7 per cent, Indians 13.9 per cent and others 0.6 per cent.
The Malaysian Insider understands that Umno strategists have predicted that with a surge in Malay voter support from about 50 per cent in 2008 to nearly 65 per cent, the party will win in at least 25 out of the 35 state seats it will contest in the polls.
But this will not be enough for BN to swap sides with Pakatan Rakyat (PR) in the 56-seat state assembly — a crucial feat that will likely set the tone for BN’s performance throughout Malaysia in the 13th general election, widely speculated to be held after Hari Raya.
According to one BN leader, Umno’s strategists have said that the MCA would have to deliver at least three of the 14 seats it will contest while MIC must contribute at least one of its three seats to enable a shaky BN win in Selangor with just 29 seats.
In 2008, Umno won 18 state seats of the 35 it contested while Gerakan and MIC, contesting four and three seats respectively, failed to capture a single one. The historical defeat saw the loose coalition of the DAP, PKR and PAS take administrative control of the country’s richest state with 36 seats.
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