BENTONG – Just which Barisan Nasional component party will contest the Wangsa Maju and Bandar Tun Razak parliamentary seats will only be decided a day before nomination day.
MCA president Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai said BN parties were still discussing candidates for the two constituencies which are traditionally MCA seats.
He said whatever the decision, it would be a matter of consensus.
Liow said the most important thing, and therefore the focus of the discussions, was for candidates who could wrest back the seats from the opposition, no matter to which component party these candidates belong.
“We discuss every seat, including those we ‘swap’ among component parties, in a spirit of friendship. It’s not something we highlight through the media.
Pic by NSTP/AIZUDDIN SAAD
“We will decide a day before nomination day. What is most important is that we (find candidates who will) win the seats,” he told reporters after a meet-the-people session in Felda Sertik, here.
In the previous general election, MCA allowed Umno to field a candidate for the Wangsa Maju seat despite it being a traditional battleground for the former. However, it is understood that MCA wants the seat back for the 14th general election (GE14).
It is also understood that Umno wants to contest the Bandar Tun Razak seat in GE14 as it is a Malay-majority constituency.
One of the names being bandied about to contest in Bandar Tun Razak is Tan Sri Shahrizat Abdul Jalil, though the Wanita Umno chief has stayed clear of any such speculation.
On another matter, Liow urged the people not to be taken in by the lies being peddled by the opposition about the East Coast Rail Link (ECRL) as the project would bring many benefits with it.
“This initiative has already opened job opportunities for local residents, 14,000 in all. All of these are local people.
“So it is not true that ECRL is a project that does not look after the wellbeing of local people. These allegations (by the opposition) are malicious in nature,” he said.
MCA president Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai said BN parties were still discussing candidates for the two constituencies which are traditionally MCA seats. Pic by NSTP/AIZUDDIN SAAD
https://www.nst.com.my
PETALING JAYA― An ongoing tussle between Umno and MCA for the Wangsa Maju parliamentary seat appears to be jeopardising the Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition’s efforts to win back the seat in GE14.
While the BN leadership has yet to reveal its list of electoral candidates, speculation is high that a candidate from MCA will be fielded in the federal territory seat, drawing discontent from within Wangsa Maju Umno grassroots who feel their division leader Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Abdullah is better suited.
A text message has also been circulating on social media, telling Wangsa Maju Umno members to remove all BN election paraphernalia ― flags, posters, banners and buntings ― that have already been put up in the area until the coalition settles on Shafei as the candidate.
“Their actions in GE13 is still etched in our minds and many of us will not provide assistance if MCA were to contest here.
“Let me be clear, our action to freeze all campaign was done of our own volition and not instructed by anyone else,” a local Umno member told Malay Mail.
The Wangsa Maju Umno member confirmed the division’s unhappiness at the possibility that the seat may be given to MCA, even though the Chinese-based party is a BN component.
“We have worked tirelessly for the past few years, giving our best service under the tutelage of Datuk Shafei. We think it is unfair if MCA were to take his spot after what Datuk and Umno have done for the seat,” the grassroot member said on condition of anonymity.
“Only at the last minute that MCA decided to push to placed their candidate in the seat despite knowing that we have campaign tirelessly. Until Datuk Shafei is chosen as our candidate, we have stop all of our campaign activities,” the insider added.
Shafei supporters have not shied away from publicly expressing their views.
Yesterday, a non-governmental organisation held a protest in front of the Prime Minister’s Office in Putrajaya, demanding that they will only accept Shafei as their candidate and no one else.
Umno members have also voiced their dissatisfaction on Facebook, forwarding their complaints hashtagged #saynotomca and #shafei4wangsamaju to party secretary-general and Federal Territory BN chairman Datuk Seri Tengku Adnan Mansor.
Tengku Adnan subsequently issued a notice yesterday morning, telling Umno members to adhere to the rules and etiquette of campaigning or risk having their membership suspended.
He also wrote two words of caution on his Facebook page: “Don’t sabotage”.
“We are aware of Tengku Adnan’s warning but we don’t care. We want Datuk Shafei as our candidate,” the Wangsa Maju Umno source said.
The source believed the protesters’ actions have been effective as the Umno leadership has noticed their work.
This is not the first time an internal tussle for the seat has broken out between the two BN allies.
In the run-up to the last general election, both Wangsa Maju Umno and MCA declared that they would not support the candidate that wasn’t from their own party.
Shafei was the BN Wangsa Maju candidate in the last general election. He garnered 26,130 votes against PKR’s Dr Tan Kee Kwong polled 31,641 votes, losing by a majority of 5,511 votes.
The Wangsa Maju Umno blamed the loss on MCA’s uncooperative attitude during GE13 campaigning.
MCA has also not indicated who it plans to field in the Kuala Lumpur seat, though it would be most likely be the party’s Wangsa Maju division chief Datuk Seri Yew Teong Look, who contested the seat in the 2004 and 2008 general elections.
– Malay Mail
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