MCA’S victory in the Tg Piai by-election will be crucial to the Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition’s long-term plan to win the 15th general election, said Umno vice-president Khaled Nordin.

He said MCA’s victory will pave the way for its BN partner Umno and ally PAS to get the necessary support from non-Muslims to take back Putrajaya.

Umno and PAS are building a national political movement called muafakat nasional (national consensus) to marshal support to defeat ruling coalition Pakatan Harapan (PH) in GE15.

To convince non-Muslims that the “muafakat” was not racist as charged by its critics, Umno felt it was wise to allow MCA to defend the seat, he said in a ceramah in Pekan Nenas, Johor last night.

“We chose MCA because we are looking to the future. We don’t want just to win this by-election but GE15,” Khaled told a crowd of Umno supporters.

“In the future, MCA will need the support of Malays, just like Umno will need the support of the Chinese. We need the support of all communities,” said Khaled, who is a former Johor menteri besar until the state fell to PH in GE14 last year.

Khaled’s comments came after demands by Umno grassroots members in the Tg Piai division for the party to contest the seat because Malay residents comprise 57% of its 52,986 voters.

The division had argued that MCA’s current candidate, Wee Jeck Seng, had been defeated last year.

Wee, who had held the seat for two prior terms, had lost to Pakatan Harapan’s Md Farid Md Rafiq by 524 votes.

The by-election was called following the death of Farid, of Bersatu, on September 21.

The constituency has 53,528 voters, with 57% of them Malays, 42% Chinese and Indians making up the rest.

Polling is on November 16.

In this by-election, Wee is going up against five other candidates, the most notable being PH’s Karmaine Sardini, also Bersatu’s Tg Piai division chief.

“Umno has already won three by-elections,” said Khaled, referring to the Cameron Highlands, Semenyih and Rantau seats.

“It is MCA’s turn to prove that it can still have the people’s support and that it can help make ‘muafakat’ successful,” said Khaled.

“We want to measure how much support we can receive through ‘muafakat nasional’ that is led by Umno and PAS. This is why (winning) Tg Piai is important.”

Umno and PAS, Khaled said, must prove they still enjoy the support of the Malays in Tg Piai.

“We must prove we are the true spokesperson for the Malays and not some other party.”

Although Khaled did not mention it, he is believed to be referring to PH component party Bersatu, which wants to replace Umno as the party for Malays. – November 4, 2019.