PETALING JAYA: MCA leaders walked out of a Barisan Nasional event announcing the coalition’s candidates for the Nov 14 Melaka election tonight, saying the party would not accept decisions made without its consent.
MCA president Wee Ka Siong said seats previously contested by the party had been allocated to other parties without proper consultation, despite MCA being a long-standing BN component party.
“MCA cannot be pushed around. We deserve to be treated with dignity. How can decisions be made on MCA’s behalf without our agreement when the MCA president is still here?” he was quoted as saying by The Star.
Wee walked out of the event at the Melaka International Trade Centre with MCA deputy president Mah Hang Soon and leaders from six MCA divisions in Melaka.
He said BN’s executive secretary had informed MCA at about 9pm yesterday that the event would only involve the launch of the coalition’s election machinery, with no candidates to be announced.
However, after arriving at the venue, he was told that candidates might be announced.
Wee questioned BN’s leadership over the change, saying MCA had learnt at a meeting two days ago that seats it had previously contested would be allocated to other parties without proper negotiations.
He said MCA strongly objected to the proposed seat allocation and sent a letter to BN yesterday to formally express its disagreement.
Wee described the situation as unprecedented in his years in politics, saying MCA had met BN’s other component parties only once in Melaka before negotiations concluded.
“At the very least, we should be shown some respect. We are allies, not enemies. If there had been proper discussions and we had reached a decision together, we would have been prepared to share responsibility,” he said.
Wee said the walkout was intended to make it clear that MCA would not accept decisions made without consultation.
He also said the walkout concerned the seat allocation process in Melaka and should not be taken as a reflection of MCA’s broader cooperation within BN. “We still have time before nomination day. I hope this can be corrected,” he said.
When asked whether MCA would withdraw from contesting in Melaka, Wee said the party had yet to make a decision and would assess developments over the next few days.
MCA previously held Klebang and Machap Jaya in the Melaka state assembly after contesting seven seats in the 2021 state election, including Ayer Keroh, Kesidang, Kota Laksamana, Bandar Hilir and Bemban.