Tsu Koon slammed over polls seat issue

By Ivan Loh, The Star

KAMPAR: MCA has taken a swipe at Tan Sri Dr Koh Tsu Koon, saying the Gerakan president had insinuated that MCA was trying to get additional seats through Umno.

“Dr Koh is gutless to face Umno and he took it out on us,” MCA president Datuk Seri Dr Chua Soi Lek said on Sunday.

“If we want a seat, we will make it known outright and will not go through Umno or anybody,” he said, stressing that the party had never asked for additional seats for the next general election.

“We will not take the back door, unlike some other party,” he told reporters at the Kampar MCA Chinese New Year open house in Malim Nawar, near here.

The issue surfaced after Kepong Umno chief Datuk Rizuan Hamid had backed MCA for the Kepong parliamentary seat.

Rizuan had argued that MCA would fare better and could get more votes than Gerakan, which had been contesting there since 1975 but had never won.

The seat is currently held by DAP vice-chairman Dr Tan Seng Giaw.

Dr Koh had reportedly said it was not right for Barisan Nasional component parties to discuss openly the issue of seat allocation for the general election.

He was reported by a news portal on Sunday as saying that “we should use whatever internal channel available to voice our suggestions”.

He also said that what the Kepong Umno division chief had done was not right and should not have happened.

Dr Chua said Dr Koh should not jump to conclusions before knowing the matter thoroughly.

“Dr Koh should not simply speculate and sour the relationship between Barisan component parties,” Dr Chua said, adding that Umno might have its own reason for backing MCA for the Kepong seat.

“The general election is not about MCA or Gerakan. It is about Barisan winning and forming the government,” he said, adding that MCA would only contest in seats where it was confident of winning.