Supporters of Ka Ting, Kong Choy behind third force swing votes

From The Malaysian Insider

With support in MCA split between Datuk Seri Ong Tee Keat and Datuk Seri Dr Chua Soi Lek, all it took for the shadowy “third force” to knock both leaders out was the backing of between 120 and 150 delegates.

The Malaysian Insider understands that ultimately it was this small group of party delegates that turned MCA’s EGM last Saturday on its head, sparking the chaos and leadership crisis it finds itself facing now.

According to sources, the shadowy “third force” was backed by supporters of Datuk Seri Ong Ka Ting and Tan Sri Chan Kong Choy, the former party president and deputy president respectively. “They did not have to do much campaigning. “We were aware phone calls were being made last week and all they needed to convince were a small group of delegates,” a senior MCA leader told The Malaysian Insider.

On Saturday, 2,307 delegates turned up for the EGM with 2,304 eventually voting. Tee Keat narrowly lost a confidence vote, while Dr Chua won an immediate reinstatement of his party membership, even though delegates did not specifically vote for him to be deputy president.

The MCA has now been plunged into crisis, with Tee Keat now on leave until the party’s central committee meets on Thursday. Ultimately Chan, who was also the former Transport Minister, may be having the last laugh. He had been implicated and hammered over the Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ) scandal.

Tee Keat, as Transport Minister, had spearheaded investigations into the fiasco which may end up costing taxpayers more than RM12 billion, and Chan was at the heart of the scandal. While no criminal liability has been proven, it was his role in PKFZ that forced him to resign as Transport Minister in early 2008. He also did not stand as a candidate in Election 2008.

While Ka Ting was not implicated in any such scandal — he retired last year from politics to take responsibility for MCA’s poor performance — his supporters are not big fans of Dr Chua. Many of them felt Dr Chua should have stayed retired from politics after the sex scandal that surfaced in late 2007 forced him to resign as minister and from party posts.

While Tee Keat’s supporters are pushing for him to remain president — they argue that under the party constitution a two-thirds majority is needed to remove him or any office bearer — he has clearly lost the moral stature to continue.

Yesterday, Datuk Seri Najib Razak already hinted that he should go. Also, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad commented that both Tee Keat and Dr Chua should depart the scene. There have been suggestions that fresh elections be called, but the only way new polls can be held is if the entire central committee resigns. An alternative step would be to appoint interim leadership in the form of either vice-residents Datuk Liow Tiong Lai or Datuk Kong Cho Ha, but both are considered political lightweights. – The Malaysian Insider