UMNO and PAS should not be bound by history and let MCA contest Tanjung Piai because of history, said Khaled Nordin.

The Umno vice-president said telling Umno and PAS they should let MCA recontest the seat to prove that they are multicultural smacks of shallow thinking.

“Such thinking only proves that we have not moved beyond viewing issues from a racial perspective,” said the former Johor Menteri besar in a Facebook post.

The national accord between Umno and PAS must end such outdated paradigms, he said.

“Only the best candidate should be fielded in the Tanjung Piai by-election. This candidate must be someone who will represent Umno, MCA, MIC, PAS and all those who believe in the national accord.”

The Malay-majority seat was previously held by MCA for three terms before losing it to Bersatu’s Md Farid Md Rafik in the last elections.

Khaled said Barisan Nasional must be willing to take a drastic step with the values embodied in the Umno-PAS political charter.

The Tanjung Piai candidate should be picked based on his ability to be the best representative in Parliament and not from the biggest party or largest race, he added.

“Failing which, BN and the national accord (between Umno and PAS) will be trapped by a political formula that is unrealistic.”

Khaled, who is currently in Taiwan, was responding to speculation on which party will contest the Tanjung Piai by-election.

The former Johor Baru and Pasir Gudang MP and assemblyman, who lost the state and federal contests during the last elections, is among those favoured to contest the seat.

The Tanjung Piai by-election will be held within the next 60 days following the death of Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (National Unity and Social Wellbeing) Farid last Saturday.

Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said the party would discuss with its BN partners on which candidate to field for the seat.

Going by the constituency’s breakdown by race, it is highly likely the former ruling pact will name a candidate from Umno.

In the Cameron Highlands by-election earlier this year, BN went with an Orang Asli candidate instead of one from MIC, a decision that worked in the coalition’s favour.

Umno and PAS had, at the time, worked together to drum up support for Ramli Mohd Nor, setting the stage for co-operation in subsequent by-elections in Semenyih and Rantau. – September 24, 2019.