KUALA LUMPUR, May 11 — MCA should review its decision not to contest in the Bukit Gelugor by-election on May 25 to focus on fighting the proposed implementation of hudud, said a political analyst while another differed in opinion on the decision.

Prof Datuk Dr Zainal Kling from Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris, said if MCA contested in a Chinese-majority area, its policy of rejecting hudud implementation would carry more weight.

He said the reason for MCA rejecting hudud implementation in the country was to protect non-Muslims, which received support from the Chinese community.

“If they (MCA) only focus on the hudud issue and not contesting in the Bukit Gelugor by-election, then Chinese support may decline further as they will lose the opportunity to regain some support from the community in the Chinese-majority constituency,” said the political analyst when contacted today.

Zainal said by contesting, MCA could take the opportunity to expose the community to the hudud issue.

“With this, their goal over the hudud issue may be achieved,” he said.

Zainal also said that if Barisan Nasional were to field a candidate for the by-election, a young candidate should be considered.

“This is because the majority of voters now are young people and they will tend to choose a candidate with the same thinking as theirs, has oratory skills and able to serve them as well,” he added.

However another political analyst, Prof Dr Oh Ei Sun said MCA had made a wise decision of not contesting in the by-election to focus on defending its stand on the hudud issue.

He said the decision would save time, energy and resources as the Bukit Gelugor parliamentary seat is a DAP stronghold.

“They (MCA) need to focus on the hudud issue as this could be their last chance to regain support from the non-Malays, especially the Chinese, as most of them reject the proposed implementation of hudud in the country,” said Oh, who is a senior fellow at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore.

Yesterday, MCA secretary-general Datuk Seri Ong Ka Chuan announced the party’s decision not to contest in the Bukit Gelugor by-election to focus its attention on the hudud issue.

The decision was made after the party’s Presidential Council emergency meeting in Ipoh, Perak yesterday. — Bernama