KUALA LUMPUR: Seat allocations for the next general election should prioritise Barisan Nasional component parties and not "others", says Datuk Seri Dr Wee Ka Siong.
The MCA president said that the unity government's mandate was only for this term, as no single coalition won a majority to form the government in the last general election in 2022.
Dr Wee said this to the media after the 50th Barisan anniversary celebration at World Trade Centre Kuala Lumpur, here, on Saturday (Dec 7).
He also said that the Barisan leaders should prioritise their own parties in discussions on seat allocations between the parties in the unity government.
“After the last election, we created a unity government as no one got 112 seats. We must understand that the mandate for the unity government is only for this term.
“For Barisan to rise again, we should not exalt the 'others' over our own parties.
“We must always make our own parties the priority. We won (in the last general election) because we ran under the Barisan logo then,” said Wee, who declined to say who he meant by "others".
Barisan chairman Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi in June had stated that the coalition would continue to work with Pakatan Harapan in the run-up to the next general election (GE16),
He added Barisan would contest in constituencies that were not contested by Pakatan and "we do not contest in the areas they are contesting in."
Subsequently, the secretaries-general of MCA and MIC maintained that Barisan component parties were not consulted over Ahmad Zahid’s statement that Barisan would work with Pakatan.
Also not consulted was the decision that Barisan would not throw in its hat in areas where Pakatan partners are contesting, they added.
“We have discussed this at the supreme council level and we have given our views. But there are many more details that need to be ironed out that we need to discuss in depth," Dr Wee said.
He also said further discussions on seat allocations should be made, taking into account all Barisan component parties.
“If we do not raise the matter, how can we obtain seats that can be won, while the leaders keep saying we should rise to glory again,” Dr Wee said.
Earlier, in his speech at the same event, MIC deputy president Datuk Seri M. Saravanan warned that the current seat allocation practised in Barisan would not benefit the coalition.
“MIC also does not agree with the formula where component parties would only contest at their respective incumbent seats.
“If we had followed this formula, we would never have given the Cameron Highlands seat to Umno.
“In the past, if you were a division chief, you would automatically become a candidate but with the current formula, you would never become a candidate.
"If we continue with this formula, then our role as Friends of Barisan will only be to put up posters until the end,” he said.
