Ahmad, who is also the deputy finance minister, said having a Malay represent a Chinese majority constituency is not BN’s philosophy.

“On the principle of respecting the majority ethnic group, we chose Datuk Mah Siew Keong,” Ahmad told reporters after a ceramah in Taman Desa Bakti here last night.

“That shows Barisan Nasional’s fair principles in putting a candidate of the majority race...We don’t play politics like the DAP where they put a Malay candidate in a Chinese area,” he added, referring to DAP candidate Dyana Sofya Mohd Daud in the May 31 Teluk Intan by-election.

Of Teluk Intan’s 60,349 voters, Chinese make up 42 per cent, while Malays and Indians form 38 per cent and 19 per cent respectively.

DAP, meanwhile, has said that the 26-year-old Dyana Sofya was fielded in the Chinese-majority federal constituency to achieve the party’s dream of a “Malaysian Malaysia”.

BN represents the three major ethnic groups — Malay, Chinese and Indians — through Umno, MCA and MIC. Membership of the parties are based on race.

Gerakan, of which Mah is president, is majority Chinese although membership is not race-based. The DAP, similarly, is mainly Chinese. Only two of its 36 MPs are Malays — Zairil Khir Johari (Bukit Bendera) and Datuk Ariff Sabri Abdul Aziz, otherwise known as Sakmongkol AK47 (Raub).

Ahmad also said yesterday that BN representatives would get priority from the federal government compared with opposition lawmakers.

“BN constituencies will get the priority in development,” he said.

“A people’s representative will not be effective if they are not in line with the state and federal government,” Ahmad added.

He also claimed that the state government in Pakatan Rakyat (PR) states like Selangor and Penang similarly focus on their own assemblymen.

“When voters choose a certain representative, they have to understand the implications of their choice,” said Ahmad.

Mah, 53, will take on Dyana Sofya in a straight fight for the Teluk Intan federal seat in Perak this Saturday.