KUALA LUMPUR – MCA branches in the Batu parliamentary constituency have stopped electoral operations as a sign of protest against Barisan Nasional’s (BN) move to allocate the seat to MIC in the 15th general election (GE15).
A video of MCA members tearing down an election banner in front of the party’s operations centre in the constituency has gone viral, highlighting the severity of the situation.
Sin Chew Daily reported that the seat was supposed to be contested by MCA’s Datuk Seri Yew Teong Look.
Yew was quoted as saying that the party’s grassroots members are expressing their dissatisfaction on the snub by shutting down their election operation centre.
He went on to say that MCA will not be present tomorrow to support MIC man A. Kohilan Pillay, who was named by BN as the candidate for Batu parliamentary seat. Kohilan is a former Gerakan vice-president.
MCA president Datuk Seri Wee Ka Siong had previously proclaimed that the BN candidate for Batu would be from his party after MIC was given the Padang Serai seat which was traditionally contested by MCA for BN.
The race for Batu seat could see a multiple-cornered contest with incumbent MP P. Prabakaran is set to defend his seat for Pakatan Harapan.
The Vibes reported that former PKR vice-president Chua Tian Chang, also known as Tian Chua, will in all likelihood be contesting in Batu as an independent after he was overlooked by his party for the federal seat.
Also in the fray are Azhar Yahya for Perikatan Nasional while lawyer-cum-activist Siti Kasim and social media influencer Nur Fathiah Syazwana Shaharuddin have also said that they will be contesting in Batu in this November 19 general election.
Meanwhile, MCA secretary-general Datuk Chong Sin Woon said in a statement that the party will field its candidate in Kepong while giving way to MIC to contest Batu.
He did not reveal the name of the candidate for Kepong.
“MCA will contest 44 seats in the general election. The candidate for Kepong will be a 30-year-old who will go all out to win the seat,” he said.
“The turmoil in Batu MCA due to seat allocation is understandable. It’s normal that people just need a little time to adjust,” he said. – The Vibes, November 4, 2022
