He, therefore, urged his supporters to become polling and counting agents (PACA) to protect the ballot boxes during GE14.
He provided the link for the P104 (Kelana Jaya) GE14 PACA registration form at the bottom of his post.
Wong described the ambush by Pakatan Harapan MPs that almost defeated the vote on the domestic trade, co-operatives and consumerism ministry’s budget allocation as sending a “strong message” to the minister that the people were suffering.
He said the strategy for the ambush was planned during the PKR pre-counsel meeting last week.
“This sends a strong message that the rakyat are suffering due to the high cost of living and oil prices, which is under the purview of his ministry,” he said on his Facebook page.
He said the idea was originated and executed by G Manivannan (PKR – Kapar) and endorsed by Johari Abdul (PKR – Sungai Petani).
“Party whips from DAP, Amanah, Bersatu and Warisan were then brought into the loop.
“When the bell was rung for a vote, we clearly outnumbered Umno BN by seven votes. The counting process started and the counting forms were eventually signed. After that point, other Umno BN MPs and ministers rushed in and the signed documents were retracted. The process (was) delayed further until they had enough numbers.
“This is a blatant abuse of the counting process. One of the MPs jokingly warned the speaker not to “turn off the lights” and fix the vote. To add fuel to our anger, and despite our strong protests, the domestic trade minister could be seen in the counting area to “supervise” the vote count. The counting process took an inordinately long 15 minutes to count.
“The final outcome was 52 for Umno BN and 51 for Pakatan Harapan,” he said.
Wong zeroed down the wafer thin loss to the fact that two senior PAS leaders abstained from voting.
“Ultimately Umno BN was saved by Idris Ahmad of Bukit Gantang (vice-president of PAS) and Hajjah Siti Zailah of Rantau Panjang (head of Kelantan PAS women’s wing).
“But in a surprise move, six of the PAS junior backbenchers voted with us against Umno BN. One of them explained to me that the high cost of living was a rakyat issue and as such he would vote with his conscience. The message is loud and clear, prepare for three-cornered fights so long as pro-Umno leaders are in charge of PAS.”
Pontian MP Ahmad Maslan, who is also the deputy international trade and industry minister, took to Twitter to describe his thoughts: “11.59pm. Just reached from Dewan Rakyat. Tomorrow the proceedings continue until next week. The ministries are still wrapping up their budget debates. The opposition tried to ‘ambush” but failed yet again.”