MELAKA, Nov 17 — MCA hopes to contribute several seats for Barisan Nasional (BN) in the Melaka State Election this Saturday (Nov 20).

MCA president Datuk Seri Wee Ka Siong said among the seats the party expects to recapture were Kelebang, Machap Jaya, Bemban and Kesidang.

MCA lost in all the eight state and two parliamentary seats it contested in Melaka in the 14th General Election in May 2018.

Wee said the confidence was based on the positive response from voters towards its candidates and that Deputy Minister of International Trade and Industry Datuk Lim Ban Hong stood a good chance of winning the Kelebang seat.

“So I hope Datuk Lim, who is accepted by all levels of society, can pull off an upset and snatch back the seat. This is one of our hopes. Apart from that, we have won Machap Jaya, which has many Chinese voters, before and only lost once. We also won it in the 2007 by-election.

“Third is Bemban, it is where I was born. We have also fielded a candidate (in Bemban) even though he (BN candidate, Koh Chin Han) lost once (there), but we hope he is given a chance. For Kesidang, despite taking a risk with a young candidate (Leong Hui Ying), with the backing of youths, I hope he can do something,” he said in a talk entitled” Melaka Polls- Why BN Remains the Best Choice” that was held virtually.

BN is contesting all 28 seats up for grabs in the election with UMNO vying for 20, MCA (seven) and MIC (one).

Besides the above mentioned seats, MCA is also contesting in Ayer Keroh, Kota Laksamana and Bandar Hilir.

The Melaka state election was called following the dissolution of the state assembly on October 4 after Chief Minister Datuk Seri Sulaiman Md Ali lost majority support in the State Legislative Assembly. — Bernama