YONG PENG: Gelang Patah MCA division chief Datuk Jason Teoh is the best candidate to contest the Gelang Patah parliamentary seat, says the party leadership.
MCA deputy president Datuk Seri Dr Wee Ka Siong said the party “cannot see anyone other than Teoh” to wrest the seat from DAP’s Lim Kit Siang who won in 2013.
“He (Teoh) is popular and well-liked by Chinese, Indians and Malays in Gelang Patah and is always around when needed,’’ he said during the Ayer Hitam MCA Chinese New Year open house at SJKC Yong Peng 1 yesterday.
Dr Wee, the Johor MCA chairman and Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, said Teoh was also well known in Gelang Patah as he has been servicing them for many years.
He said although Teoh was not fielded as candidate in 2013 for the seat (Gelang Patah was contested by Umno’s Tan Sri Ghani Othman then), he remained active in the area.
Dr Wee said even Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin and Umno vice-president Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein acknowledged that Teoh, who is the Johor MCA Public Services and Complaints Bureau chairman, was the best candidate for the Gelang Patah seat.
“This shows that Umno also has confidence in Teoh,’’ he added.
On Pakatan Harapan, Dr Wee added that the MCA did not want to waste its time and resources thinking of who among its leaders would vie for Gelang Patah and other seats in Johor.
“We have better things to do than to think about them. We just leave it to them to decide their candidates,’’ he said.
He said Lim went to Ayer Hitam recently to meet voters but he did not say if he would contest there.
Dr Wee said he did not discount the possibility of Pakatan fielding a parachute candidate in Ayer Hitam as they do not have a reputable leader from the area.
He said the Ayer Hitam MCA election machinery was prepared to face the polls, adding that a meeting was held on Thursday for an update on the latest preparations.
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