THE increase of Malay votes in Lumut by 71% after the redelineation process has triggered Umno’s interest in the parliamentary seat which was contested – and lost – by MCA in the last election, said the Chinese-language Oriental Daily.

Under the redelineation process, Chinese voters which made up the majority of votes in the Setiawan state constituency under the Lumut parliamentary seat have now dropped to 17%, with the rest now placed under the Bruas Parliamentary constituency.

The change in the voting landscape has increased the Malay voters in the area to 71%, which will be the moving factor for Umno to push for the seat to be given to them in the coming elections, said the report.

Oriental Daily said Perak Menteri Besar Zambry Abdul Kadir who is Pangkor state assemblyman has been named as a candidate to contest for the Lumut Parliamentary seat.

But due to the current political turmoil, Zambry is more needed by Umno to retain the party leadership in Perak.

In the 13th General Election, MCA candidate Kong Cho Ha lost to PKR’s Mohamad Imran Abdul Hamid by 8,168 votes.

Apart from Lumut, Umno is also looking at Padang Serai Parliamentary seat which was allocated for MCA.

In the previous general election in Padang Serai, MCA lost to PKR in a five corner fight.

PKR’s N. Surendran received 34, 151 votes while MCA’s Heng Seai Kie received 25,714 votes.

It is understood that to make it even, as an exchange, MCA may get to place its candidate for the Gelang Patah Parliamentary seat that was won by DAP through its candidate Lim Kit Siang in the previous general election.

Kit Siang won against Umno candidate former Johor menteri besar Abdul Ghani Othman by 14, 762 votes. – June 30, 2017.