A young pharmacist daughter of a former MCA assemblyman is expected to challenge DAP's candidate, widely tipped to be Karpal's son, in the by-election.
GEORGE TOWN: MCA may field a woman candidate for the forthcoming Bukit Gelugor parliamentary by-election on May 25.
A young pharmacist Koay Wan Lee, daughter of former Seri Delima assemblyman Koay Kar Huah, is said to be the favourite for the candidacy.
The Bukit Gelugor by-election is being held following the death of incumbent parliamentarian Karpal Singh of DAP on April 17 in a car accident near Kampar, Perak.
Polling is on May 25 while nomination is on May 12, giving contestants 13 days to campaign.
Sources claimed Wan Lee could be picked among the three proposed names submitted to the party president Liow Tiong Lai last week.
It’s learnt that Bukit Gelugor MCA division chairman Kar Huah also submitted names of lawyer Ooi Siew Kim and state youth chief Michael Lee Beng Seng to Liow.
When contacted, Kar Huah however did not want to confirm the names and merely said “wait for the announcement.”
A local leader said the party preferred a female candidate this time.
“Wan Lee is favoured ahead of others due to her father’s political roots in the constituency,” said the leader.
Kar Huah was a three-term assemblyman for Seri Delima between 1995 and 2008. He lost to Karpal in Bukit Gelugor in the 2008 general election.
Besides Seri Delima, Air Itam and Paya Terubong are two other state seats under Bukit Gelugor.
Bukit Gelugor has 61,112 or 74.49% Chinese voters, 11,880 or 14.48 % Malays, 8,660 or 10.56% Indians and 390 or 0.48% others.
It’s also learnt that MCA’s top brass has yet to decide not only on the candidate but also if the party should even contest in the by-election. The party is expected to make an announcement in the coming days.
Grassroots not confident
Meanwhile according to sources, feedback from grassroots was not encouraging with many leaders apprehensive about fielding a candidate.
They strongly believe the party had no chance against the DAP, Penang’s ruling party.
A local leader even went on to say that the Chinese voters would vote blindly for DAP’s logo, Rocket.
“MCA currently is a sunset party unless it is revamped and reformed, which is unlikely under the current federal and state leaderships.
“In the current political scenario, MCA can’t woo Chinese to Barisan Nasional.
“DAP is currently enjoying an unprecedented popularity among Chinese,” said the leader.
However, MCA’s top leadership is said to be encouraged by the increased Chinese vote swing to the party following the Kajang by-election. It managed to clinch 25% compared to only 18% of votes during the 13th general election.
The late Karpal scored a stunning 42,706 majority win in Bukit Gelugor in last year’s general election against BN’s candidate from MCA, Teh Beng Yeam.
In the by-election, DAP is widely expected to field Karpal’s son, Ramkarpal, who has indicated that he was ready to fill in his father’s political shoes.
Although DAP is speculated to win the seat without dropping a sweat, Ramkarpal’s candidature is seen as an attempt to swing sympathy votes and maintain Karpal’s majority.
“The Karpal factor will give no chance for MCA to make inroads.
“Moreover, MCA’s own grassroots leaders and members may not be motivated to campaign for the party candidate as evident during the Kajang by-election,” said an MCA local leader.
Besides DAP and MCA, Bukit Gelugor by-election may also see a candidate from newly formed Penang Front Party (PFP) and Parti Cinta Malaysia (PCM).
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