Tee quits MCA, prods Wee to contest in Chinese majority seat

 

Former Pulai Sebatang assemblyperson Tee Siew Kiong has quit MCA, after deciding not to appeal his five-year suspension.

Tee, who was suspended for criticising the party leadership, said he did not expect his appeal to make a difference.

"To avoid the party from descending into chaos, I officially announce that I am quitting MCA with immediate effect," he said in a statement today.

Up until his suspension, Tee was the former Pontian MCA division chief. He was sanctioned after he publicly criticised the party leadership for ceding candidacy rights for Pulai Sebatang to Umno during the recent Johor polls.

During the MCA party election in 2018, Tee was former deputy minister Gan Ping Sieu's running mate for the party's top two positions. However, it was the Wee Ka Siong-Mah Hang Soon combination that emerged victorious in that contest.

He has accused current MCA president Wee of trying to eliminate party rivals ahead of the next MCA elections.

Rest easy now

Tee chided that the MCA president can rest easy now that he has quit the party, but said the latter should be braver in the next general election.

"(My resignation) can fulfil the (MCA) president's biggest and final desire.

"I hope the president is no longer anxious and worried, and dares to contest in Chinese majority seats to uplift the party's spirits and dignity and exemplify the courage of former (MCA) president Li San Choon," he said.

Li was the fourth MCA president. In the 1982 general election, he had contested the Seremban parliamentary seat in response to taunts from then-DAP chairperson Chen Man Hin that MCA leaders were afraid to contest in Chinese majority seats.

Li's gambit successfully unseated Chen, who had held the Seremban seat since 1969 when it was known as Seremban Timor.

Wee Ka Siong

Wee was MCA's sole survivor during the 2018 general election, hanging on to his Ayer Hitam seat by 303 votes.

Ayer Itam is a mixed seat. In 2018, around 58 percent of voters were Malay.

Meanwhile, despite quitting MCA, Tee hoped the party would continue to achieve greater successes and continue contributing to the Chinese community. - Mkini