KUALA LUMPUR – MCA and DAP will each be given strategic roles in the Mahkota by-election, said Barisan Nasional (BN) chairman Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi.
This “hybrid approach” will combine the forces of parties that form the unity government in line with the demographic composition of the state seat in Johor, he said on the sidelines of the Umno general assembly today.
The Mahkota seat has around 66,000 voters, of which 35% are Chinese. BN will field a candidate to represent the unity government.
“We appeal to all parties in the unity government to mobilise their machinery. There are certain segments that will be given to DAP and other segments that we will give to MCA,” Zahid was quoted as saying by Bernama.
MIC, meanwhile, will be tasked with campaigning among the 8,000 Indian voters with PKR’s help.
“We are asking MIC to move its machinery together with the leadership and Indian members in PKR,” Zahid added.
The Umno president was asked by reporters about recent remarks by MCA president Datuk Seri Wee Ka Siong that BN must include the coalition’s component parties when making decisions.
MCA and DAP have been traditional political rivals until both came together with their respective coalitions, BN and Pakatan Harapan, to form the unity government after the 2022 general elections.
The Mahkota seat was vacated following the death of incumbent Datuk Sharifah Azizah Syed Zain, 63, on August 2.
The Election Commission has set voting for September 28. Candidate nominations are to be filed on September 14 and early voting will be held on September 24.
In the last Johor state election, in 2022, Sharifah Azizah won the Mahkota seat by a majority of 5,155 votes.
Mahkota is under the Kluang parliamentary constituency, which is held by DAP’s Wong Shu Qi. – August 24, 2024