KUALA LUMPUR — MCA predicts a difficult campaign for the Kota Laksamana and Bandar Hilir state seats in the Melaka election, as these have been DAP-dominate constituencies for several terms.
MCA president Datuk Seri Dr Wee Ka Siong said the two seats, allocated to the party at the last-minute, will be taken as a platform to gauge public support for MCA among voters there, the majority of whom are Chinese.
“We realise that it is not easy to conquer the two DAP strongholds, but we will work hard to gain the people’s mandate in these areas.
“We will make the best use of this opportunity by mobilising our efforts and machinery to gain the support of the voters,” he said after the nomination of candidates today.
MCA was originally allocated two seats where it is the incumbent—Machap Jaya and Kelebang—a move which Wee had claimed was made by Barisan Nasional without finalising consultations with his party. BN had instead allocated seats to Perikatan Nasional (PN) with whom it has forged a pact for the Melaka polls.
On October 24, Wee and other senior party leaders walked out of the BN’s candidate announcement ceremony in protest. BN chairman Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi downplayed the tension, saying there was still room for negotiations.
Today, at the close of nominations, MCA was announced to be contesting a total of four seats, including Bandar Hilir and Kota Laksamana.
Wee, who is also Ayer Hitam MP, said MCA appreciated the trust and support of the BN leadership as well as the views of the PN leaders to contest the four seats.
79 candidates are contesting 28 seats in the Melaka legislative assembly in 11 straight fights, 11 three-cornered contests, and six four-cornered battles.
The Election Commission (EC) has set November 14 as the polling day for the Melaka state election, while the nomination of candidates is today and early voting is on November 10. – October 31, 2026