MCA distances itself from Hee, says she will lose without BN blessing

Clara Chooi, The Malaysian Insider

Datuk Hee Yit Foong will likely lose her Jelapang seat if she insists on contesting in the polls without Barisan Nasional’s (BN) blessing, MCA president Datuk Seri Dr Chua Soi Lek said today, distancing his party from the former DAP leader who was instrumental in Pakatan Rakyat’s (PR) fall in Perak.

Dr Chua clarified that despite Hee’s claim to the media on Tuesday, MCA had neither discussed giving up contesting the Jelapang seat in Perak to an outsider nor agreed to field Hee as its candidate for the coming 13th general election.

He reminded Hee, who was once described as the “most hated woman in Perak”, that any decision on seat distribution in BN was made collectively as it is crucial for the candidate to receive support from both the voters and component parties.

“While Hee can announce that she is the candidate for Jelapang in the coming general election, without the support from the MCA division and especially the grassroots members, it is unlikely that she will win in the election,” he warned her.

Hee is known for her role in the 2009 Perak constitutional crisis which saw the state in turmoil for nearly a year after her defection, and that of two other former PKR representatives, caused the former Pakatan Rakyat (PR) government’s fall from power.

At the time, the former Perak assembly deputy was said to have left the DAP in a huff, after repeatedly complaining to have been sidelined in the state administration and left out of positions of power.

She turned into a BN-friendly independent following her defection, a decision that earned her harsh criticism from Jelapang voters, most of whom are said to be hardcore DAP supporters.

Media reports in the months after she left DAP said Hee turned into an outcast in her own constituency, having to move around in a delegation complete with bodyguards to keep her safe from angry voters.

But in an interview with Oriental Daily published on Tuesday, Hee said she will recontest Jelapang “under the BN flag”, even adding that she would let Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak announce the details later.

She boasted that anger against her had dissipated over the years following the Perak crisis, even adding that those who once took out newspaper advertisements to declare they no longer supported her have now returned to apologise.

According to Malaysiakini’s report on the Oriental Daily interview, Hee also claimed that some voters have even told her, “Datuk, your service is no worse than theirs (DAP). If you contest again, they might not win!”