PAS secretary-general Takiyuddin Hassan stumped for MCA for the first time in Cheras last night, urging Balakong voters to back the ethnic Chinese party on Saturday.

This is the last week of the 21-day campaign period.

“There are 56 state seats in Selangor, Pakatan Harapan won 51, Umno four and PAS one seat in the 14th general election. Only five seats belong to the opposition. This is unhealthy.

“There aren’t enough opposition representatives to check and balance the government. MCA will be a good and effective opposition. Please vote for the opposition, vote for MCA on Saturday,” Takiyuddin said during his speech at a night market in Taman Tun Perak.

About 50 people attended the MCA ceramah, including Umno supporters.  

Since the now-defunct Pakatan Rakyat pact first won Selangor in 2008, the number of opposition legislators in the state assembly had declined steadily from 20 in 2008, to 12 in 2013 and five this year.

Takiyuddin also criticised the PH government for its failure to fulfil its 100-day promises, a common theme raised by MCA throughout the by-election.

When asked by reporters after the ceramah whether PAS supporters in Balakong will hesitate to vote for MCA as the party has fiercely opposed hudud previously, he said he is confident that PAS members will obey the party president’s instruction to support MCA.

“PAS members will follow the president. You have to bear in mind that we received more votes here than BN in GE14. If we combine our votes, we’ll get more votes.

“The thing here is very simple. We need a strong opposition in the spirit of democracy, for the purpose of checks and balances. PAS has been the opposition all the time, now BN is in the opposition, too.”

The Malaysian Insight previously reported that PAS members and supporters in Balakong are in two minds about whether to support MCA.

MCA candidate Tan Chee Teong, the underdog, is standing against PH candidate Wong Siew Ki in the by-election which has been called following the death of assemblyman Eddie Ng Tien Chee in a road accident on July 20.

Ng defeated BN candidate Lim Chin Wah and Mohamad Ibrahim Ghazali of PAS by 35,538 votes on May 9.

Then, PAS received slightly more votes – 6,230 – than MCA (5,874) with DAP polling 41,768 votes. – September 5, 2018.