In fact, mixed seats like Ayer Hitam were crucial to the opposition’s plans to capture Putrajaya in the 14th general election (GE14), she said.
“Electoral data for the federal seat in 2013 put Malay voters at 56%, Chinese at 38% and Indians at 4%.
“In the 13th general election (GE13), there was a 17% voter shift for the opposition. The swing was big. But a further swing is not impossible,” she said in a statement.
Teo, who is Kulai MP, said the opposition obtained 70% of the Chinese votes in 2013, with DAP getting nearly 80% in areas like Gelang Patah and Kulai.
In Kluang, she added, DAP had managed to get 78.5% of the Chinese votes.
“On the other hand, the opposition obtained 21% of the Malay votes in GE13. But in places like Kluang, Gelang Patah and Kulai, DAP managed to get 35% of the Malay support.
“It is clear that there is room for PH to improve our Malay and Chinese support in Ayer Hitam. And given the current economic and political situation, I do not think that a further swing for PH in Ayer Hitam is unrealistic,” she said.
“PH should send its best candidate if we want to take down the MCA No. 2.”
The Ayer Hitam parliamentary seat is currently held by MCA deputy president Wee Ka Siong.
Wee won the seat three times in a row, defeating a PAS candidate in 2004 with a majority of 15,763 votes. This dropped to 13,909 votes in 2008, also against a challenger from PAS.
In 2013, Wee defended the seat against PAS-nominated proxy candidate Hu Pang Chow but his majority was further cut to 7,310 votes.
In an interview with FMT last Friday, however, he said he was confident of beating any challenger from the opposition.
“I am not worried and I am prepared to face any challenger, whether from the DAP or Amanah. I will defend the seat based on my record of service and with the support of the Barisan Nasional machinery,” he said.