PETALING JAYA, Oct 25 — MCA leaders walked out of a Barisan Nasional event in Melaka after objecting to what the party described as a candidate announcement and seat allocation process carried out without its agreement.
According to The Star, the dispute yesterday centred on constituencies previously contested by MCA, which the party claimed had been allocated to other parties despite the absence of formal negotiations and mutual consent.
“MCA cannot be pushed around. We are a political party and 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?” MCA president Datuk Seri Wee Ka Siong told the English daily
The walkout involved Wee, MCA deputy president Datuk Dr Mah Hang Soon and representatives from six MCA divisions in Melaka during the event held at the Melaka International Trade Centre.
According to Wee, MCA had been informed by Barisan Nasional’s executive secretary on Friday night that the gathering would focus solely on the launch of the coalition’s election machinery and would not include any announcement of candidates.
However, upon arriving at the venue, party members alerted him to the possibility that candidates could be unveiled.
He said MCA later discovered that the programme included a candidate announcement segment, prompting the party leadership to seek clarification from Barisan Nasional leaders.
Wee also said MCA had learnt during a meeting two days earlier that seats traditionally contested by the party were being reassigned to other coalition partners, The Star reported.
The MCA president said he objected to the proposed arrangement and that the party subsequently sent a formal letter to Barisan Nasional on Friday expressing its opposition to the seat allocation.
He said MCA’s central political bureau met on Saturday morning and decided the party would still attend the event in its capacity as a Barisan Nasional component member. However, the inclusion of a candidate announcement prompted the delegation to leave the venue.
Dr Wee described the episode as unprecedented in his political experience, arguing that MCA had not been given sufficient opportunity to discuss the allocation before being informed that the matter had effectively been settled.
He said negotiations in Melaka involved only one meeting with other parties before the allocation process was concluded, and questioned how MCA could be expected to endorse an arrangement reached without its agreement.
He told The Star that the walkout was not intended as a boycott of the event, but rather a signal that MCA would not accept decisions made without consultation.
Wee also stressed the disagreement was limited to the seat allocation exercise in Melaka and should not be interpreted as reflecting MCA’s overall relationship with Barisan Nasional.
He added that cooperation at the federal level, as well as seat negotiations in Johor and Negeri Sembilan, had been conducted in a manner that respected all parties involved.