In her statement yesterday, Seputeh MP Teresa Kok had asked MCA to “reconsider” their decision to rejoin Cabinet in view of their defeat at the Kajang by election on Sunday.

Despite winning a reduced majority of 5,379 votes, Pakatan candidate Dr Wan Azizah had crushed BN candidate Chew Mei Fun and dented UMNO’s confidence.

“While MCA cannot still see the light at the end of the tunnel, UMNO leaders must have sleepless nights over the further loss of Malay support for BN,” she said.

The voter turnout in the 13 th general elections was 72.1 percent where the PKR candidate Lee Chin Cheh won with a majority of 6,824 votes. On Sunday, the voter turnout saw a reduction 16.3 percent. However, the percentage of votes for Pakatan Rakyat increased by two percent, prompting the Seputeh MP to conclude that if the than 3000 to voters had returned to vote, MCA’s defeat would have been more severe.

“During the campaign period, MCA leaders had said that a better Kajang result would enable the party to fight for more Cabinet posts with dignity.

“In fact, Chew Mei Fun herself had said that MCA needed to garner some 30% of the Chinese votes in the Kajang by-election to prove that the community needs the party to represent it in the Cabinet,” added Teresa Kok.

In 2011, MCA had said that it would not take up government posts if its electoral performance in the 13 th general elections was worse than the 12th general elections. However, the Barisan Nasional Chinese party had recently held a general meeting to decide to rejoin Cabinet.

Teresa Kok suggests, that since their attempt at capturing Kajang was a failure, MCA should rethink their decision.