KUALA KUBU BAHARU – Perikatan Nasional (PN) is open to accepting MCA into the coalition, following the Barisan Nasional (BN) component party’s decision to not campaign for the unity government’s candidate in Kuala Kubu Baharu.
PN chairman Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin said that while the opposition coalition was willing to consider MCA’s inclusion into its fold, PN would also look into whether the party had truly been “sidelined” by BN.
“I’ve been following (MCA president) Datuk Seri Wee Ka Siong’s statements. He has to look into the situation with BN. What has transpired has benefited neither MCA nor MIC (as BN component members),” Muhyiddin said.
“They have been sidelined and denied an opportunity to stand (in the Kuala Kubu Baharu poll), while all sorts of things have been done by Umno to make MCA and MIC feel cast aside.
“I agree (with suggestions for MCA to exit BN) to show that they have dignity. Why should they be guided by BN?” the former prime minister added when met by reporters after a ceramah with the Indian community in Bandar Utama Batang Kali, here, today.
Muhyiddin, who is also Bersatu president, proposed that MCA state its intent to go solo in the next election to gauge public support for the party.
“They can work with whoever they want to, including (PN component) Gerakan. Our doors are always open, and we’ll look into (MCA’s claims of being sidelined). At the end of the day, it’s a decision MCA has to make.”
While Wee had previously affirmed MCA’s loyalty to BN as one of its founding members, he also said that the Chinese-based party would have several options to consider in the future if BN continued to work with Pakatan Harapan (PH).
Speaking on the Keluar Sekejap podcast, Wee said that the party might consider finding new partners. This comes amid heightened tensions between MCA and PH member DAP after the latter’s candidate was fielded for the Kuala Kubu Baharu by-election.
Defector’s claim Bersatu allows campaigning for rival his ‘personal opinion’
Meanwhile, Muhyiddin also said that Bersatu’s Selat Klang assemblyman Datuk Abdul Rashid Asari’s claim that his decision to stump for DAP candidate Pang Sock Tao last night did not violate Bersatu’s constitution was merely his own personal opinion.
Muhyiddin said that while Rashid, who had previously declared his support for the unity government, was free to come up with his own interpretations of the party’s constitution, the party had its own specialists who would evaluate the matter based on existing rules.
“It’s obvious that his decision to stand on the same stage (with PH) was meant to oppose us. Is he still supporting us? Think, is that logical? Once he did that, our constitution states that his membership was immediately dropped.
“Would you be okay with it if you were a party leader? You can’t act like this, we have rules,” Muhyiddin said.
Last night, Bersatu secretary-general Datuk Seri Hamzah Zainudin said that the party would simultaneously issue letters to Rashid and six other lawmakers who had stated their support for Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s administration.
The letters, Hamzah said, would be sent out after a Bersatu supreme council meeting set to take place next week following the conclusion of the Kuala Kubu Baharu by-election on Saturday. – May 9, 2024