PN’s decision to field Malay candidate hurts MCA’s boycott, says ex-MP

Former Bangi MP Ong Kian Ming said MCA’s absence in the Kuala Kubu Baharu by-election campaign will not be felt by the Chinese voters.

PETALING JAYA: A former MP said Perikatan Nasional’s decision to field a Malay candidate from Bersatu will hurt MCA’s boycott of the Kuala Kubu Baharu by-election.

DAP’s Ong Kian Ming said the opposition has “basically conceded the Chinese vote to the unity government’s candidate”.

In a post on X, Ong said PN’s decision means the MCA’s absence in the campaign for the state seat would not be felt by the Chinese voters.

Chinese voters will overwhelmingly support the Pakatan Harapan candidate, showing MCA”s irrelevance in this campaign, he said.

The former Bangi MP also said while MCA president Wee Ka Siong’s justification for the party’s decision to sit out the polls made headlines, especially in the Chinese press, it also inadvertently created more publicity for the by-election among the community.

This included outstation voters who may not have paid much attention initially.

“If MCA’ strategy was to use its own boycott as a way to signal Chinese voters not to come out to vote in the KKB by-election, I don’t think this is going to work.

“The Chinese voter turnout will drop but not because of MCA’s boycott,” he said.

PN’s Khairul Azhari Saut will attempt to wrest the seat from PH in a four-cornered fight that also features Pang Sock Tao of DAP, Hafizah Zainudin of Parti Rakyat Malaysia and independent candidate Nyau Ke Xin.

Wee had previously said MCA would not help the unity government campaign in the run-up to the May 11 by-elections, citing previous attacks by DAP against his party.

The Kuala Kubu Baharu seat fell vacant following the death of three-term DAP assemblyman Lee Kee Hiong on March 21 from cancer.

The constituency is a mixed seat with the 40,226 registered voters split almost evenly between Malay voters and non-Malay voters.