MELAKA: Every political party wants to contest more seats, but compromises are inevitable when parties agree to work together, says MCA president Datuk Seri Dr Wee Ka Siong.
He said MCA’s decision to contest four seats in the Melaka election, down from seven in the previous polls, reflected the political realities of cooperation between parties.
“We cannot judge a party’s performance in an election simply by looking at the number of seats it contests.
“Seeking more seats in politics is not a crime,” he said after visiting the Bandar Hilir nomination centre to show his support for MCA candidate Jasmine Lok yesterday.
Dr Wee also questioned why DAP’s decision not to contest Bemban had not attracted similar scrutiny, pointing out that the party had previously won the seat and even fielded its then Melaka chairman Datuk Tey Kok Kiew there after he moved from Kota Laksamana.
“Did DAP not win Bemban before? Would it willingly give up a seat it had won? It is the same principle,” he said.
He also questioned whether DAP and Bersatu had reached an arrangement behind the scenes over seat allocations.
“If you tell me they have absolutely no connection, I would not believe it,” he said.
Dr Wee added that the negotiations over seat allocations, which involved more than a week of discussions and disagreements, should now be put behind them following the completion of the nomination process.
“MCA’s priority is to defend the incumbent seats of Kelebang and Machap Jaya while seeking voters’ support in the other two constituencies,” he said.
The party was initially allocated two seats for the current polls, but this was increased to four following negotiations between Barisan Nasional and Perikatan Nasional, with the intervention of Barisan chairman Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi.
Earlier, Dr Wee and MCA deputy president Datuk Dr Mah Hang Soon accompanied Kelebang candidate Datuk Lim Ban Hong and supporters to the Kompleks Japerun Klebang nomination centre.
Lim, who is seeking another term, faces the seat’s first four-cornered contest since it was created in 2004.
His priorities include building on existing development efforts and creating more economic opportunities, particularly for young people.
Better-paying jobs, affordable housing and access to higher education and technical and vocational education and training would also remain among his key areas of focus, he added.
Lim, who is MCA vice-president and Melaka MCA chairman, also pledged to work closely with his team to engage residents from all backgrounds, understand their concerns and gather feedback on ways to improve the constituency.
He is facing Pakatan Harapan’s Farzana Hayani Mohd Nasir, Young Jie Yu of Parti Bersama Malaysia and Datuk Seri Mohamad Ali Mohamad of Bersatu.
