MCA lauds MB’s endorsement
Khaled gives party greenlight to contest in Gelang Patah seat
MUAR: MCA has welcomed Johor Mentri Besar Datuk Mohamed Khaled Nordin's endorsement for the party to contest in the Gelang Patah parliamentary seat in the next general election.
“It was a wise decision on Mohamed Khaled's part as Gelang Patah has 67% of non-Malay voters under the current constituency profile,” said MCA deputy president and Johor party chief Datuk Seri Dr Wee Ka Siong.
He added that the situation in the 13th general election in 2013 was unique as the traditional MCA seat was loaned to Umno where former mentri besar Tan Sri Abdul Ghani Othman contested against DAP's Lim Kit Siang.
Dr Wee said immediately after the previous general election, he together with party president Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai, met with Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak and Mohamed Khaled regarding returning Gelang Patah to MCA and they unanimously agreed to it.
“They instructed MCA to identify a suitable candidate and start doing early groundwork to regain the Chinese support in the area and this is exactly what we have done.
“We welcome the MB’s decision and we thank him for his endorsement,” he said after launching the Muar MCA division meeting here yesterday.
It was reported that Mohamed Khaled, who is state Barisan liaison committee chairman, said it only made sense to place an MCA candidate in Gelang Patah as the seat belonged to the party.
At another function after launching the Parit Sulong MCA division annual general meeting (AGM) here on Saturday night, Dr Wee said parents must be honest when applying for their children’s citizenship.
“All we ask is for the parents to be frank and tell us if their child was adopted so that we can help them accordingly. The citizenship application for an adopted child and biological child is different under the law.
“There is no use hiding the truth and in the end, the application gets delayed or worse, rejected,” he said.
Dr Wee said he and Liow would regularly submit stacks of such applications to Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, who is also Home Minister, for approval.
When launching the Sri Gading MCA division AGM here, Dr Wee urged members to give their all in preparing for the general election and support whoever is fielded by the central leadership.
“We must support them and help them win instead of creating problems through infighting.”
Meanwhile, when launching the Bakri MCA division AGM, Dr Wee reminded members not to take Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin’s Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Pribumi) lightly.
He said there were talks that Pribumi is targeting Muar and Bakri in the general election. He noted Muhyiddin’s influence in those areas as he is Pagoh MP (Muar).
MCA has identified Bakri as one of the top 10 parliamentary seats nationwide to win back in the next general election.