PONTIAN: Umno had worked hard to support and see to the victory of MCA’s candidate in the 2019 Tanjung Piai parliamentary by-election and the favour will be returned, says Datuk Seri Dr Wee Ka Siong.
The MCA president said an Umno candidate would be contesting in the upcoming Mahkota by-election and MCA would be helping them win.
“This is the Barisan Nasional spirit. Back then, the Umno machinery helped MCA’s Datuk Seri Dr Wee Jeck Seng win the Tanjung Piai parliamentary seat.
“We hope the Tanjung Piai (victory) will be translated in Mahkota as well,” he told reporters after launching the Johor MCA Youth and Wanita wings convention at Dewan Jubli Intan Pontian here on Sunday (Sept 1).
Dr Wee said although MCA has its own strategy, the party would follow the instruction of Barisan’s director for the by-election, who is also Johor Mentri Besar Datuk Onn Hafiz Ghazi.
In the Tanjung Piai by-election, Wee emerged the winner with 25,466 votes in a six-cornered fight for the parliamentary constituency.
He received a majority of 15,086 votes against his closest rival, Pakatan Harapan’s Karmaine Sardini who collected 10,380 votes.
Meanwhile, Dr Wee added that Johor executive councillor Lee Ting Han would be leading the party’s state machinery in the Mahkota by-election.
“Lee, who is Johor MCA secretary, has been appointed the ‘bapa angkat’ (coordinator) for the by-election while party secretary-general Datuk Chong Sin Woon will be the national-level coordinator.
“All 26 of our divisions in the state will be involved and the party’s central leaders have also been told to go to the ground and assist the machinery,” Dr Wee said, adding that they would be organising activities that benefit the people.
The Election Commission has set Sept 28 as polling day for the Mahkota by-election, while nomination and early voting have been set for Sept 14 and 24, respectively.
The seat fell vacant after Sharifah Azizah Syed Zain passed away on Aug 2 at age 63.
The former Johor Wanita Umno chief won the seat with a 5,166-vote majority in the March 2022 state election.
