MCA geared up for GE15

PETALING JAYA: An MCA presidential council meeting was held on Friday night (Oct 7) to discuss the party's preparedness for the impending 15th General Election (GE15).

With Budget 2023 tabled on Friday, it also meant that the dissolution of Parliament could be made at any time, with the onus on the party leadership to ensure everyone is ready to roll, said well-placed sources close to the party.

"Overall, we get the message that GE15 is a sure thing this year and it's coming very soon," said a party source who was at the meeting.

"We have to be ready before the dissolution," said another source who also attended the meeting.

"If someone from the party asks when we should be ready, we will tell them 'yesterday'," he said, adding that a Barisan Nasional supreme council meeting was expected soon to gauge the coalition's overall readiness and the latest political development.

"It should be called after the Maulidur Rasul holiday next week," said the second source.

Since a round of "naziran" (political inspectorate) had taken place earlier, led by Barisan deputy chairman Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan in each state, he said the coming meeting would address any shortcomings following presentations on each state's preparedness, surveys and findings.

While MCA's preparedness for the polls took centre stage during the presidential council meeting, the second source said MCA's candidacy at other possibly winnable seats, including those vacated by Gerakan, was also being explored.

"We went through the seats state by state, though not in all places. There are over 40 parliamentary and over 100 state seats, and we spoke on the strategic and winnable seats," he said.

Many seats held by Gerakan such as Kepong and Segambut (in Kuala Lumpur) and some parliamentary and state seats in Penang will be contested by MCA.

"However, the bottom line is that this is premised upon MCA having a suitable candidate for that area and it must not affect our other original seats there.

"We know that Umno wanted to break the convention of 'traditional' seats following demographic changes in some places.

"If it doesn't affect our original seats, then it's still okay. Otherwise, then we likely won't consider it," he said, adding that if MCA had a suitable candidate with a proven track record of work for an area, the president would discuss it with the Barisan leadership.

The source also said that candidacy for seats in Barisan, including those left by Gerakan, would be clearer in the next two weeks.

"Traditionally, the Barisan supreme council meeting is not the best avenue to negotiate for seats despite all component parties being there.

"Seat negotiation is a separate meeting and the Barisan supreme council meeting is another session. They won't mix," he said, adding that factors to be considered included funding, the number of seats, as well as the candidate's winnability and popularity.

These sources also revealed that the chosen candidate would typically be informed a day before he gets the appointment letter to contest.