KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 18 – MCA wants Penang voters to give the party a chance in the coming national polls to act as a form of checks and balances to the ruling Pakatan Rakyat pact.
Penang MCA secretary Lau Chiek Tuan said this in a statement today, picking up the lead from fellow Barisan Nasional (BN) partner Gerakan a day after its president Tan Sri Koh Tsu Koon volunteered to stay out of the coming 13th general elections.
Lau also alleged that many Penangites have been unhappy with the ruling DAP, which they claimed had not kept their pre-election pledges.
The state opposition Chinese partyman pinned this down to the lack of seats held by other parties.
“Pakatan Rakyat’s call for a two-party system is practically non-existent in the Penang state assembly,” Lau said.
He warned Penang voters against blindly supporting one party, saying “any proposal done by DAP can be detrimental to the interests of Penangites as any laws can be easily passed”.
The DAP swept all 19 seats contested in the landmark Election 2008, wiping out Gerakan from the 40-member state legislative assembly.
The BN coalition is represented solely by Umno with 11 seats, a sharp reversal from the 38 seats held by the powerful coalition in the 2004 elections and only the second time since Independence that the state has fallen into non-BN control, the last being in 1969.
DAP later joined allied with PKR (nine seats) and the Islamist PAS (one seat) to form a loose three-party pact now known as Pakatan Rakyat.
“Therefore, we hope that Penangites will give MCA a chance in the coming general elections to provide the people with an alternative choice with the existence of a two-party system to ensure that the rights and interest of the people of Penang are protected,” La said.
The current mandate only expires in May 2013 but all political parties are bracing themselves for national polls to be called as early as January next year.
However, Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng previously said he may opt to hold polls only at the end of his administration’s term.
