Tee Keat vows to defend seat

With or without the endorsement of MCA and BN, the former party president says he will stand his ground in Pandan.

KUALA LUMPUR: Former MCA president Ong Tee Keat said he will defend his Pandan parliamentary seat with or without the party leadership’s endorsement.

Continuing his attacks on MCA president Dr Chua Soi Lek, the Pandan MP claimed that MCA’s top brass were working on pitting him against his allies in a bid to solicit support for the current leadership.

Ong suggested that the move was aimed at forcing him to withdraw his candidacy for the Pandan seat.

“Of late, MCA sources have again been at work, deliberately rekindling the speculation of MCA’s choice of candidate for Pandan.

“Such names as Cindy Leong and Heng Seai Kie who are deemed friendly to me have been mentioned, conceivably aimed at driving a wedge between me and the personalities implicated,” the former minister said in a statement today.

Leong is Pandan MCA’s Wanita chief while Heng is currently the women, family and community development deputy minister and party publicity chief.

“I made my unequivocal stance that I will certainly contest the Pandan parliamentary seat come the next general election with or without MCA or BN’s endorsement of my candidature,” said Ong.

Candidacy for 13th GE simmering

It is understood that lobbying for candidature has been simmering albeit quietly within MCA as BN prepares for the national polls which is widely speculated to be held in the coming months.

MCA-linked Oriental Daily today quoted a party source as saying that Ong nominated himself for the Pandan seat candidature, which he denied.

He claimed his candidature was passed through with the support of Leong who forwarded the resolution to Chua in support of Ong’s candidacy.

“I could not stop them from passing the AGM resolution in supporting my candidature. Neither could I deter them from walking the talk in forwarding their proposition of my candidature for the Pandan parliamentary seat to the Selangor MCA leadership or to CSL (Chua Soi Lek) himself,” he said.

Ong said while the Chinese language newspapers had been reporting with details on the jockeying and lobbying behind the scene, it had failed to highlight the “tacit elbowing and the carrots dangled in luring the aspirants to swear allegiance” to the MCA president.

“To me, such gimmicks perhaps could help strengthen CSL’s grip on the party, but I doubt if it could ever be productive in winning the hearts and minds of the people,” he added.