PUTRAJAYA: Tanjung Malim incumbent Datuk Seri Ong Ka Chuan has urged his followers to continue to support Barisan Nasional (BN) in the 14th General Election (GE14) although he is not nominated.
Ong was responding to an incident today where 500 Tanjung Malim constituents staged a peaceful gathering at Dataran Putra to urge BN top leadership to reconsider its decision to drop Ong in GE14.
Ong said it is beyond his control.
“I am very sad that this has happened. I had already made an open statement about my acceptance regarding the fact that I will not be contesting in GE14.
“However, the group of supporters that went to Putrajaya to show their disappointment is beyond my control.
“I had built up a close relationship with them since 2008. They are like my family members, like my brothers and sisters.
“I think they cannot accept the fact that our relationship had to end abruptly. I am trying very hard to calm their emotions. I need to emphasise that this is not a political manoeuvre. I will try to persuade them to calm down and support BN in the GE14,” he said in a statement.
Ong, who is also Second International Trade and Industry Minister, was a four-term Perak state assemblyman for the Chenderiang seat from 1986 to 2004.
In the 2004 general election, the 64-year-old contested at the Batu Gajah Parliamentary seat, but lost to DAP’s Fong Poh Kuan.
He later contested in Tanjung Malim parliament in 2008 and won the seat, and subsequently defended the seat in 2013.
Perak MCA chairman Datuk Dr Mah Hang Soon, who is also the Perak executive councillor, was named as Ong’s replacement to contest the Tanjung Malim Parliamentary seat.