Wee: Chinese support for BN, MCA back in Johor and Melaka

KUALA LUMPUR, June 1 — The results from the most recent state elections in Melaka and Johor showed the Chinese community is now more in favour of the Barisan Nasional (BN) and its component MCA, party president Datuk Seri Wee Ka Siong said today.

Wee said BN had won 21 seats out of 28 seats in the Melaka state election and 40 out of 56 seats in the Johor state election, and claimed there are signs that the coalition is recovering from its plunge in 2018’s general election.

'Yong Peng, which falls under the federal constituency of Ayer Hitam, has a major population of 58 per cent Chinese but we have managed to win it in the Johor state election,” he said during the BN Convention for its 48th anniversary here.

The Ayer Hitam MP said that its victory is not merely a result of Pakatan Harapan’s (PH) alleged failure in fulfilling its election promises, but claimed that it is also because the voters have lost confidence in the latter.

'Therefore we will need to work harder to win the voters back. We need to work hard, show up in the field, be humble, and don’t let our guard down because Johor and Melaka results do not guarantee a victory in the upcoming election,” he added.

Despite Wee's assertion, MCA only won four out of the 15 seats it contested in Johor.

In Melaka, MCA had won just two out of seven.

Meanwhile, Wee also reiterated that MCA continues to lend its support to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob in leading the country should BN wins the next general election.

'Election is around the corner, and we support Umno’s Ismail Sabri to be the ‘panglima’ in the next election race,” said Wee, using the Malay word that can mean a military commander.

In 2018, MCA won only one federal seat, which is Wee's.