PETALING JAYA: Johor Umno deputy chief Nur Jazlan Mohamed has told MIC to negotiate with MCA if it intends to contest the Pulai seat in the next general election (GE15).
Nur Jazlan, who was the Pulai MP from 2004 to 2018, previously challenged MIC deputy president M Saravanan to contest in Pulai after being criticised for saying that Umno could no longer depend on its Barisan Nasional (BN) partners, MIC and MCA, in the general election.
While Johor MIC information chief S Deva yesterday said he would take up the challenge, Nur Jazlan dismissed Deva’s interest in the seat, calling him a “lightweight candidate”.
“It’s a pity … I see that MIC is not serious about accepting my offer. Everyone knows Pulai is a tough seat which only heavyweight candidates can win,” he said in a Facebook post.
“It’s a tough seat to win, and it’s not for lightweights.
“But if MIC or S Deva still want to contest in Pulai, they have to negotiate with MCA first because I have also invited MCA president (Wee Ka Siong) to be a BN candidate in Pulai.
“I also have to respect and give face to MCA because Chinese make up 40% of the voters in Pulai, while Indians only make up 12%.”
Nur Jazlan said he would only support MIC’s bid for the seat if MCA agreed to give way to the party, and MIC president SA Vigneswaran or Saravanan were willing to contest.
In that case, MIC would have to sacrifice and make a “barter trade”, he said, calling on the party to allow Umno to compete in Tapah, which he said has a large majority of Malay voters.
Saravanan is the Tapah MP.
“Only then is it fair and in line with the family spirit in BN.
“I believe that if an Umno candidate contests the Tapah seat, BN will win it because Malay voters are now full of confidence in BN’s ability and excellent track record,” he said.
Nur Jazlan, a three-term MP for Pulai, lost the seat to Amanah deputy president Salahuddin Ayub in May 2018. - FMT
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