PONTIAN: MCA’s Tanjung Piai division chief Datuk Seri Dr Wee Jeck Seng will be representing Barisan Nasional in the upcoming Tanjung Piai by-election.
Wee, 55, will be contesting against Pakatan Harapan’s Karmaine Sardini, 66, from Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia and Gerakan’s Wendy Subramaniam, 38.
Wee, who received his Doctorate in Public Management from University Utara Malaysia recently, is no stranger to the local political scene as he was previously a two-term Tanjung Piai MP and one-term Pekan Nenas assemblyman.
In GE14, he lost to Parti Pribumi Bersatu (Pribumi) candidate Datuk Dr Md Farid Md Rafik by 524 votes.
Johor Umno chief Datuk Hasni Mohamad announced Wee as the candidate during a special event at the Pontian Umno office here on Wednesday (Oct 30).
He described Wee as the best candidate for Barisan based on the consensus made within the coalition.
He added that the decision proved that the cooperation between Umno and PAS was inclusive, big-hearted and pragmatic in taking care of all societies and communities in the country.
"Wee had previously served in the area as MP and assemblyman in the area," he said.
He dispelled talks about Umno members unhappy with the decision.
Meanwhile MCA president Datuk Seri Dr Wee Ka Siong was optimistic of Barisan's chances.
“I’m confident that the Barisan machinery and our friends out there, in the name of national unity or the opposition solidarity, will bring down Pakatan Harapan, ” said the Ayer Hitam MP.
“This (by-election) is an important test on whether Malaysians like or hate the government.
“They (Pakatan) put more than RM20mil in the elections. They used to call it dedak (money politics), and now they said it’s a coincidence.”
“On behalf of MCA, I want to thank Umno. This shows solidarity among us. Even though we lost the elections, the spirit of brotherhood is still strong.
The Tanjung Piai parliamentary was carved out from the Pontian constituency during a redelineation exercise done in 2003.
The seat became vacant following the death of Dr Farid from heart complications on Sept 21.
The Tanjung Piai constituency is a mixed seat with 53,528 registered voters comprising 57% Malays, Chinese 41.66% and Indians 1%.
This semi-rural area is famous for tourism, small businesses and smallholders of oil palm and pineapples.
The Election Commission has set Nov 2 as nomination day and Nov 16 as polling day for the by-election.
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