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Ahead of Tanjung Piai Nomination Day, MCA confirms submitted rep for consideration

Tanjung Piai MCA chief Datuk Seri Wee Jeck Seng said his division has submitted a name to BN leadership as a potential candidate for the Tanjung Piai by-election. — Picture by Ben Tan
Tanjung Piai MCA chief Datuk Seri Wee Jeck Seng said his division has submitted a name to BN leadership as a potential candidate for the Tanjung Piai by-election. — Picture by Ben Tan

PONTIAN, Oct 25 — The Tanjung Piai MCA division has sent a party member’s name to the central leadership to be considered as the Barisan Nasional (BN) candidate for the coming Tanjung Piai parliamentary by-election.

Tanjung Piai MCA chief Datuk Seri Wee Jeck Seng said the candidate was part of his division’s leadership; however, he declined to divulge the individual’s identity.

He said it is still not known if the BN leadership will field an Umno or MCA candidate for the Tanjung Piai by-election.

“However, the Tanjung Piai MCA division will adhere to whatever decision is made by the BN leadership and work together to ensure that the coalition can recapture the Tanjung Piai parliamentary seat in the by-election,” said Wee when met in Kukup here today.

Wee, who is the former Tanjung Piai MP from 2008 to 2018, assured that his MCA division will follow BN’s standard operating procedure (SOP) when it came to decisions.

“Whatever BN’s decision is, we (Tanjung Piai MCA) will accept it with an open heart once the candidate has been announced,” said the 55-year-old grassroots politician.

Wee, who also served as the former Pekan Nenas assemblyman from 2004 to 2008, said 8,000 MCA members from the party’s Tanjung Piai division will join the BN election machinery for the Tanjung Piai by-election.

He explained that his division will open three MCA by-election operation centres in Pekan Nenas, Pontian town and Ayer Masin in Kukup.

On September 26, Wee said he reserved comment on the possibility of him vying for the Tanjung Piai seat again in the impending by-election, following an Umno leader’s opposition against automatically letting the Chinese-dominant party contest it.

Wee said he will wait for any decision by the BN leadership, even as the Muafakat Nasional pact between Umno and PAS continues to assert its pressure for a candidate to come from the two Malay-Muslim parties instead.

“As MCA members, we are guided by BN and such decisions will be made by the top leadership.

“I will follow protocol and wait for the BN leadership’s decision before commenting on my candidacy or matters regarding the Tanjung Piai by-election,” Wee was reported as saying.

The Election Commission (EC) has set November 2 as Nomination Day and November 16 as polling day for the Tanjung Piai parliamentary by-election.

The by-election was triggered after incumbent, Datuk Dr Md Farid Md Rafik died of heart complications on September 21.

Dr Md Farid, who was from Pakatan Harapan’s (PH) Bersatu, won the seat in the GE14 after he defeated MCA’s Wee who represented BN by only 524 votes in a three-cornered contest. The third candidate is Nordin Othman from PAS who secured 2,962 votes.

The Tanjung Piai constituency is a mixed seat comprising 57 per cent Malays, 42 per cent Chinese and 1 per cent Indians.

The seat has been traditionally contested by MCA and DAP since 2004. In 2018, DAP ceded the seat to Bersatu to contest under its PH campaign.

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