Umno needs to address own problems despite Tg Piai success: Hishamuddin

KUALA LUMPUR: Barisan Nasional (BN) needs to address its own problems despite its success in Tanjung Piai recently, said former Umno Vice-president Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein (pix).

He said Saturday’s astounding win was a good result for the coalition in its quest to reclaim the administration at the federal level but BN has a long way to go to be a “perfect” coalition.

“BN is not perfect. However, it’s a good start. At the end of the day, we need to perform our duties as an effective opposition too,” he told reporters at the Parliament lobby here yesterday.

Hishammuddin, who is Sembrong MP, attributed BN’s victory to teamwork and not any individual.

“I think it is teamwork. No individual can claim credit for our win and that’s always been BN’s strength.

“It is impossible to get such a huge win if it wasn’t for the effort of everyone who campaigned for Datuk Seri Wee Jeck Seng,” he said in response to some claims the win was due to efforts by former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Abdul Razak.

Meanwhile, Umno veteran Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz said Chinese voters in Tanjung Piai supported BN in the by-election as Pakatan Harapan (PH) failed to provide funding for MCA-owned Tunku Abdul Rahman University College (TAR UC).

He predicted that the trend of Chinese voters shifting back to BN would continue into the 15th general election if PH did not fulfil its promises.

“For TAR UC, you (PH) gave RM5 million (in 2019) and now you reduce it to RM1 million,” he said.

“Is that fair?

“We (BN) gave RM35 million for the education of Chinese students during our administration,” he said.

Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng previously told the board of trustees of Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman and TAR UC to resign if they wanted government funding.

The Tanjung Piai parliamentary seat fell vacant in September following the death of its incumbent, PPBM’s Dr Md Farid Md Rafik.

MCA’s Wee Jeck Seng won the by-election on Saturday by over 15,000 votes in a six-cornered contest against PH’s Karmaine Sardini, Wendy Subramaniam (Gerakan), Badhrulhisham Abdul Aziz (Berjasa) and independents Faridah Aryani Abd Ghaffar and Ang Chuan Lock.