Umno Supreme Council member Puad Zarkashi said there were several personalities in MCA who had been strongly advocating the party’s exit from BN, including Ti.

The Rengit assemblyman claimed that Ti had a personal agenda in doing so, particularly to contest the 16th general election (GE16).

“His chances (of contesting GE16) are gone with BN working with DAP. Anyway, he has a better chance of winning (at the polls) if he has the full support of PAS,” he said in a Facebook post.

“Ti appears confident that PAS would be willing to sideline Gerakan and choose MCA, which is much better structured,” he added.

Ti, the Kuantan MCA chief, served as an assemblyman for three terms from 1995 to 2008.

He did not contest the 2022 general election despite being offered a shot at the Indera Mahkota parliamentary seat, saying he was better prepared to vie for the Raub or Kuantan seats instead.

Yesterday, Ti said MCA must decide whether to leave or remain in BN as Umno and DAP forged closer ties.

In June, MCA president Wee Ka Siong said any decision on the party’s future in the unity government and BN would only be made during its general assembly.

‘Does Puad want UmDAP to replace BN?’

In response, Ti said he had no desire for positions or to further his political career, but simply to fight for fairness.

He said Puad might have misunderstood his description of BN as “an empty shell waiting to be cracked”, saying this was specifically in the context of Umno cosying up to DAP.

“This was an opposition against DAP, and not Umno or BN. What I’m saying is that if Umno-DAP becomes a political alliance, it would be a signal that DAP will replace both MCA and MIC, leaving BN as an empty shell.

“Does Puad want BN to be ended and replaced with UmDAP?” he said in a separate Facebook post.