KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 1 — A suggestion from Umno for MCA to field badminton ace Datuk Lee Chong Wei in the coming Kajang by-election was damning appraisal of the Chinese party by its ally, DAP’s Teresa Kok said today.
Labelling the proposal “ridiculous”, the Seputeh MP said the call further depicted Barisan Nasional (BN) as desperate enough to risk the sporting contributions of the badminton world number one for the sake of political expedience.
“BN doesn’t treasure Lee who is still fighting so hard in many badminton competitions in order to bring fame for Malaysia, but it instead has treated Lee as a political digit to contest against a strong man in a Pakatan Rakyat’s stronghold,” Kok said today.
In her statement to the media, the former DAP Selangor chairman said the proposition further served to show BN and MCA as bereft of political talent.
On Thursday, Padang Besar Umno division chief Datuk Zahidi Zainul was quoted in media reports as saying that MCA ― which contested the seat in Election 2013 ― should field Lee as their candidate to rival the popularity of PKR's de facto chief and chosen candidate, Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.
MCA president Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai yesterday at his party’s Chinese New Year open house declined to comment on the suggestion to rope in Lee, though he did say that the athlete’s popularity could be on par with Anwar’s.
But Youth and Sports Minister Khairy Jamaluddin said emphatically today that he will block any attempt to involve Lee in the Kajang by-election, before calling the shuttler a “national treasure.”
On Monday, PKR’s Kajang assemblyman Lee Chin Cheh abruptly quit the state legislative assembly, later explaining that his decision was for the benefit of the party.
The move came not long after media speculation that a state by-election would be triggered to pave the way for Anwar to become a member of the Selangor assembly and qualify to replace Mentri Besar Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim.
