President Wee accuses Malaysiakini of 'trapping' candidate Wee

TG PIAI POLLS | MCA president Wee Ka Siong has accused Malaysiakini of "trapping" the party's candidate for Tanjung Piai, Wee Jeck Seng.

This is after a Malaysiakini journalist pressed Jeck Seng on whether MCA is a member of the PAS-Umno Muafakat Nasional pact.

"Malaysiakini asked a question in Tanjung Piai earlier and it had trapped the candidate," Ka Siong (above) told reporters in Parliament today.

"For years, I have used the word Muafakat Johor. Isn't it a slogan or spirit that we carry together?

"So when a question was framed, whether we (MCA) support Muafakat Nasional, I want to ask, in the past did we not support Muafakat Johor?" he added.

He said Muafakat Nasional would be supported on the basis of backing any party which upholds the Federal Constitution and multiculturalism which is the core of BN.

"So in the name of opposition solidarity, Muafakat Nasional is the same as Muafakat Johor... Don't assume this is the registration of a pact with the name of such and such," he added.

Muafakat Nasional is the name adopted for the Umno and PAS' alliance. However, in Malay, it can also be a generic term for national cooperation.

Malaysiakini's questions centred on whether MCA was a "member of Muafakat Nasional."

During her speech at a Muafakat Nasional Youth event in Pekan Nanas, Tanjung Piai, last night, MCA Youth chief Nicole Wong said the concept of Muafakat Nasional is for the opposition to work together towards something better.

MCA had never made clear whether it was part of the Umno-PAS pact.

However, PAS secretary-general Takiyuddin Hassan previously said the Muafakat Nasional charter clearly stated that Umno also means BN, MCA and MIC, and PAS means Gagasan Sejahtera, Berjasa and Ikatan.

Umno vice-president Ismail Sabri Yaakob (photo) clarified today that MCA was "not yet" a member of Muafakat Nasional.

Meanwhile, in his criticism of Malaysiakini, Ka Siong questioned if the news portal supported unity.

"This question is awkward. No matter how you answer, you will be trapped, 'Oh, I don't support', does it mean you don't support a unity party or you don't want to be united?" he said.

When told Malaysiakini had asked specifically whether MCA is part of the PAS-Umno pact, he retorted: "What is a member of Muafakat Nasional?"

"Are you a member of Muafakat Johor? No, you asked one question which is illogical.

"We support opposition solidarity, is there a registration for opposition solidarity. That is a spirit which is supported. If we talk about the spirit of unity, is that a party?" he added.

Jeck Seng had skirted around the questions during a press conference.

When pressed, he replied: "No... We, I have said that all this while we have practiced (cooperation), what is important is harmony, not this issue.”

"What is important is harmony. We eat together, drink together, we just don't sleep together," he added with laughter.