Tuesday May 7, 2013

GE13: Party to conduct post-mortem on role and services, says Liow Tiong Lai

BENTONG: The MCA will conduct a post-mortem on its role and services in the various constituencies, said its deputy president Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai.

He cited Pahang, which had suffered big losses.

“We have rarely experienced such a defeat,” he said after he was announced as the Bentong MP for the fourth term.

Asked about his small margin of 379 votes over Wong Tack in the Bentong parliamentary seat, Liow said the DAP had managed to call for “change” among the Chinese community.

“They have handled certain issues to the liking of the community,” he said. “We will listen to the people and assure them that we will take appropriate action.”

Datuk Seri Adnan Yaakob, who retained the Pelangai state seat, said the election outcome showed that MCA candidates had not gained the trust of the people.

“There were Chinese who supported PAS while there were also Malays supporting DAP. This is why MCA candidates lost,” said the Mentri Besar.

In Raub, Barisan Nasional candidate Datuk Hoh Khai Mun said his defeat was part of the “Chinese tsunami”.

Hoh, who had previously defended the Bilut state seat for four terms, said the election results showed a low support for the MCA from the Chinese community.

He said the party's Raub division would study why it had failed to win the confidence of the Chinese.

“Although we have lost, Raub is still essentially a seat for MCA among the Barisan Nasional network, so the groundwork to recapture Raub must begin now,” Hoh said.

Raub was a Barisan stronghold.

Even in the 2008 polls, the coalition retained the seat albeit with a reduced majority.

Hoh, the Bentong MCA chairman, lost the race for the parliamentary seat to blogger Datuk Mohd Ariff Sabri Abdul Aziz of the DAP.

Hoh received 20,061 votes while Mohd Ariff, who is known for his blog Sakmongkol AK47, polled 23,415 votes.

For more election stories, please visit The Star's GE13 site

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