MCA leaders to meet over redelineation proposal
BENTONG: MCA leaders will meet on Tuesday to review the Election Commission’s (EC) proposal on renaming and redelineating the constituencies nationwide.
President Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai said from the initial feedback, they found that the proposed redelineation would make the racial composition more stark.
“Some Malay-majority areas will have more Malays and Chinese-majority constituencies more Chinese.
“This is not healthy for a multi-racial society, it will push the country towards becoming a theocratic state,” he told reporters here yesterday.
He emphasised that a healthy constituency must have a diverse racial composition.
Liow said the EC should seek the views and feedback from various political parties before making the proposal, adding that MCA would give its feedback to the EC after the meeting.
In Kulai, MCA deputy president Datuk Seri Dr Wee Ka Siong said the party had instructed all its 85 divisions nationwide to come up with a report following the proposed redelineation exercise, to be discussed at an internal meeting on Tuesday.
He urged divisions in Johor, Kelantan, Kedah and Terengganu to head to their respective district offices or local authorities to find out the new or affected areas today (Sunday) to compile a report (as Sunday is a work day in those states).
He said the other states and Kuala Lumpur should do so on Monday ahead of the internal meeting at the MCA headquarters.
“The report is to get a view of the whole situation before we meet to analyse and further discuss the effects of the redelineation if it takes place.
“Then we will come up with proper strategies on how to go about it,” he said at the Kulai MCA division AGM yesterday.
Dr Wee, who is the party’s election steering chairman for GE14, added that he did not want to comment prematurely on the matter before studying the specifics and figures of the redelineation exercise.
He added that the party’s research team would be on board to assess the situation based on scientific study and figures.
Meanwhile, Dr Wee has given his backing to Gelang Patah MCA division chief Jason Teoh to lead the fight to wrest the parliamentary seat from DAP in the next general election.
Dr Wee said Teoh was more hardworking than Gelang Patah MP Lim Kit Siang in tending to the people's needs.
“He (Teoh) is by far one of the most hardworking division chiefs in Johor and I feel that nobody else is more fit to lead the fight as a candidate than him,” Dr Wee said when attending the Gelang Patah MCA division AGM on Friday night.
He said he would convey the message and the people’s support for Teoh to the MCA central leadership.
He said the traditional MCA seat, which was lent to Umno in GE13, would be returned to the party in the coming general election and it was up to Teoh to gain back MCA’s dignity.
Earlier, he visited Kampung Baru Ulu Choh here and approved allocations of some RM520,000 for various roads, drains and village upgrades in Ulu Choh, Kangkar Pulai and Lima Kedai.