Chinese losing faith but ‘spooked’ into sticking with DAP, says Wee

MCA president Wee Ka Siong said the Chinese voters’ dissatisfaction with DAP stemmed from the unity government’s failure to implement reforms and fulfil promises made during election campaigns. (Facebook pic)

PETALING JAYA: Chinese voters are starting to lose faith in DAP but they are being “spooked” into continuing to vote for the party come election time, claims MCA president Wee Ka Siong.

Wee said fearmongering tactics used by DAP to demonise Perikatan Nasional (PN), particularly PAS, had left Chinese voters feeling compelled to vote for the Pakatan Harapan (PH) component despite their misgivings.

He said the dissatisfaction with DAP stemmed from the unity government’s failure to implement reforms and fulfil promises made during election campaigns.

“The sentiment exists. But when it comes to election time, if you vote without careful consideration, you will end up with a ‘green wave’.

“This is the narrative being played,” he said, referring to the term coined by politicians to describe the political rise of PN in the 15th general election (GE15).

In the latest episode of the Keluar Sekejap podcast, Wee pointed out that DAP had worked with PAS before, under the Barisan Alternatif and Pakatan Rakyat coalitions.

He said DAP always sought to present PAS favourably to its voters at the time. However, as soon as conflicts arose between the two parties, DAP would portray PAS “differently”, he said.

He said similar tactics of fearmongering were being employed against MCA. The Ayer Hitam MP claimed that lofty promises were made to Chinese voters in order to portray MCA as weak in championing the Chinese community.

MCA members in KKB free to vote for anyone

Separately, Wee said MCA members in Kuala Kubu Baharu were free to vote for any candidate in the May 11 by-election, with the party not contesting the polls or backing any candidate.

Wee also said the party’s non-involvement in the by-election should not be seen as sabotage since MCA did not direct its members not to vote for the unity government’s candidate.

The by-election will see a four-cornered fight between PH’s Pang Sock Tao, PN’s Khairul Azhari Saut, Parti Rakyat Malaysia’s Hafizah Zainuddin and independent candidate Nyau Ke Xin.

MCA decided not to campaign for Pang though Umno and MIC have hit the campaign trail for the DAP candidate.