KUALA LUMPUR – Barisan Nasional (BN) chairman Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi remains confident that MCA and MIC will remain in BN despite receiving an offer to be with another party ahead of the upcoming state elections in six states.
Zahid, who is also Umno president, said the party that made the offer is known to take the opportunity whenever there is an election, including a by-election or general election (GE).
“Whenever there is a by-election and state election or more commonly during a general election, they (said party) will start making offers to other parties to join them, but I am confident MCA and MIC will remain with BN,” he said.
Zahid was speaking to reporters after launching the 2023 National Entrepreneur Week and Micro, Small and Medium Enterprise Week at Dataran Merdeka, here today.
The BN chairman was asked to comment on Perikatan Nasional’s (PN) election director Datuk Seri Muhammad Sanusi Md Nor’s offer to MCA and MIC, with the latter urging both parties to discard BN and join PN for the coming state polls. Zahid replied that both parties have been an integral part of BN.
When asked about the decision by former deputy Putrajaya Umno chief Datuk Tun Faisal Ismail Aziz’s to join Bersatu yesterday, Zahid wished him “all the best” and stressed that Umno and BN only needed loyal leaders.
Commenting on a statement by DAP chairman Lim Guan Eng, who claimed that a “Green Wave” would destroy Buddhist temples as per a report by a Chinese daily (China Press), Zahid said such a statement was repeated to tarnish the image of Lim.
“I read the report, it had happened a long time ago, but repeated to tarnish the name of Lim Guan Eng. I feel even if we have a different political ideology, the difference will be based on good morality in politics but should not resort to character assassination,” he said. – Bernama, July 9, 2023
