“Logically, there is no other seat more fitting for MCA because, in Kelantan, there is no other area that boasts a Chinese community exceeding 30%,” he told FMT.

“In the previous six state elections, we were ready to contest as we never stopped serving in the area. However, the seat was handed over to Pakatan Harapan (PH) and MCA then decided to withdraw from contesting in the state election.”

The MCA leader’s comments come after Amanah said it had shut the door on making way for other parties, including MCA, to contest the state seat in Kelantan with a sizeable Chinese voter base.

Earlier, Kelantan Barisan Nasional (BN) chairman Ahmad Jazlan Yaakub had said that MCA would be given a state seat to contest in the next general election (GE16).

However, Amanah’s communications director Khalid Samad said it would stick to the existing practice for the incumbent to defend the seat.

In the last state election, Amanah’s Dr Hafidzah Mustaqim won the Kota Lama seat – with 33,043 eligible voters – on a PH ticket by a narrow 202-vote majority.

MCA last held the Kota Lama state seat after the 1995 general election. From 1999 until 2023, PAS held the seat through Anuar Tan Abdullah.

Chua also expressed his appreciation for the support from BN component parties in Kelantan, who had endorsed allocating the seat to MCA in GE16.

“As a national party, MCA naturally expects each state to provide seats and representatives to champion the party’s cause.

“Kelantan BN’s resolution reflects a return to tradition as this seat (Kota Lama) was traditionally contested by MCA.

“Only in the past six state elections did an extraordinary situation arise where the PH-BN coalition emerged, resulting in the seat being claimed by PH, which then passed it to Amanah.”