TANJUNG PIAI: Despite his popularity as a previous two-term MP, several voters theSun spoke to said Datuk Seri Wee Jeck Seng might not be the best choice for the opposition alliance in Tanjung Piai.
A traditional Umno voter, who wished to remain anonymous, said long-time party supporters were disappointed with the leadership for failing to field a Malay candidate in Tanjung Piai despite “the strong unity enjoyed by Malays recently”.
”We have repeatedly said Umno, preferably represented by a local, should contest here. And the party also had been demanding the seat from MCA for quite a while now,” he said when met in Kampung Rembah on Monday.
Another voter, Faruq Kamisan, 35, also agreed that a Malay candidate could increase BN’s chances of winning back the seat.
“With BN picking a non-Malay candidate, there are some people who feel that it would be better to vote for the candidate from the ruling party to ensure continuous development,” he said.
Restaurant owner Aminah Hassan shared the same sentiment, saying that she and her peers would prioritise “continuous development for the rakyat”.
The feedback on the ground is that the onus was on Umno and PAS to convince their supporters to vote for the BN candidate in the upcoming polls.
In the 14th general election, Wee lost to the late Dr Md Farid Md Rafiq of Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia by a mere 524 votes in a three-cornered contest that also involved a PAS candidate.
BN may have retained the seat in the last election if PAS and Umno had embarked on their political alliance prior to the polls.
