Umno-MCA seat tussle begins ahead of polls
(The Malaysian Insider) – A battle over seats allocation has erupted between Barisan Nasional’s Umno and MCA ahead of the next general election, suggesting the Chinese party may be edged out from its traditional seats.
In a statement today, MCA treasurer-general Datuk Seri Tan Chai Ho said he was upset Wangsa Maju Umno leaders had openly staked their claim over the division’s parliamentary seat, which MCA usually contests and lost for the first time in Election 2008.
He scolded Umno for making its intentions public and urged all Barisan Nasional (BN) component parties to keep such matters internal.
“I would like to point out that all issues related to BN in the coming general elections must be decided on by the BN supreme council and processed in the spirit of BN whereby the views of all party members are looked into so as to find the perfect balance.
“Therefore, the unnecessary attention paid to this issue by the media is not healthy and should be ignored,” said Tan.
He also agreed that the coming polls will likely see BN and MCA “pushed against the wall” and reiterated his hope that all seat negotiations or grouses be aired within internal channels.
“Simply speaking out to the media without proper thinking can do serious damage to BN’s work preparation and morale in the elections thus leading to unnecessary disputes and discords as well as creating drifters who seek to take advantage of BN only,” he warned.
Wangsa Maju is viewed as a hot seat for MCA, whose candidate Yew Teong Look lost to former PKR MP Wee Choo Keong by a narrow margin of only 150 votes during Elections 2008.
