“Don’t play games with me”: MCA’s Wee Ka Siong lashes out over seat cuts and surprise BN candidate announcement

The Malaysian Chinese Association (MCA), a member of Malaysia’s Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition, has reacted angrily to a sharp reduction in the seats it will contest in the upcoming Melaka state election and the BN leadership’s surprise announcement of candidates at an event. MCA president Wee Ka Siong publicly condemned BN for showing profound disrespect towards its coalition partner and issued a stern warning, hinting that MCA could leave BN.

The seat allocation crisis began at the Launch of the Barisan Nasional Election Machinery in Melaka on Saturday (24 October) evening. In a statement on Sunday (25 October), MCA revealed that BN executive secretary Mohd Sahfri had given Wee written confirmation on Friday (23 October) evening that Saturday’s event was solely to launch the election machinery and would not include any announcement of candidates.

At the launch, however, the BN leadership added a last-minute candidate announcement, revealing that MCA would contest just two Melaka state seats, down sharply from seven in the previous election. The five seats it was giving up would go directly to Perikatan Nasional candidates.

Faced with the unexpected turn of events, Wee led all MCA representatives in a walkout in protest, drawing the attention of those present.

Speaking to reporters outside the venue that evening, Wee said MCA was deeply unhappy that BN had handed all the seats previously contested by MCA to Perikatan Nasional without consulting MCA or holding any discussions between the two sides.

In a telephone interview with Sin Chew Daily on Sunday, Wee said bluntly that MCA could make a major decision if its grievances were not properly addressed.

He said, “Don’t play games with me. I’m telling you, I have the courage to act. I came out of respect, but if you play games with me, I will leave. Don’t think that I, as president, wouldn’t dare to do it.”

Faced with MCA’s strong objections, BN and Umno chairman Ahmad Zahid Hamidi sought to ease tensions in a media interview on Sunday. He said BN would discuss the matter with MCA and resolve the crisis before Nomination Day on 31 October.

Zahid stressed that he had not yet signed the candidates’ appointment letters, so the list could still be adjusted.

After Saturday’s event, Melaka BN chairman Ab Rauf Yusoh took a firm stance, telling reporters that BN had concluded all negotiations and allocated seven seats to Perikatan Nasional. There was no need to change the candidate list already announced, he said.

By Sunday, however, Ab Rauf had softened his stance, saying instead that he had yet to receive a full report on MCA’s walkout and would decide after receiving it.

The political row has also sparked widespread debate in Malaysian political circles and among the public. In an article published on Sunday, political commentator Murray Hunter criticised Umno’s actions as trampling on MCA’s political dignity. Hunter said the incident exposed how the Umno leadership’s longstanding arrogance and disregard for established consultation procedures had worsened. Left unchecked, this high-handed approach would undermine BN’s foundations and could even destabilise Malaysian politics, he said.

Malaysian current affairs commentator Lum Chih Feng wrote on Facebook that MCA had already given up seats in the Negeri Sembilan state election, and it was not impossible that it would do so again in Melaka.

Lum said Melaka had amended its constitution to allow the state government to appoint up to seven nominated assembly members. This could give Umno a political bargaining chip to compensate MCA through government appointments later, “but only if relations between MCA and Umno do not break down completely”.