MCA has confirmed that it will not contest the Semenyih by-election, and instead, will back any other opposition candidate, said president Wee Ka Siong.

“There are only 16% Chinese voters there. Traditionally, it is not our seat, and MCA’s stand is that we won’t field a candidate,” he told The Malaysian Insight at the Barisan Nasional component’s Chinese New Year open house in Kuala Lumpur today.

Recently, the Chinese-majority Gerakan announced that it will likely run in the by-election, slated for March 2.

President Dominic Lau said fielding a candidate will allow Gerakan to gauge the people’s acceptance of the party since it quit BN in the aftermath of the 14th general election.

“If Gerakan wants to field a candidate, it’s up to them,” said Wee.

“We will leave it to the other parties in the opposition to field candidates.”

The Semenyih seat fell vacant following the death of Pakatan Harapan assemblyman Bakhtiar Mohd Nor on January 11 due to a heart attack. He was 57.

In GE14, Bakhtiar defeated the BN, PAS and Parti Sosialis Malaysia candidates with a 8,964-vote majority, securing a total of 23,428 votes.

The by-election is likely to be contested by BN, Gerakan and PH. PAS has said it will work closely with Umno in the polls.

Nomination has been set for February 16, and early voting on February 26. – February 5, 2019.