THE TEMASEK REVIEW

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 15 — MCA’s top two leaders, president Datuk Seri Ong Tee Keat and his deputy Datuk Seri Dr Chua Soi Lek, today agreed that the resolutions of an upcoming extraordinary general meeting (EGM) were unconstitutional.

Dr Chua said they acknowledged the rights of members to hold the EGM but any resolutions which are against the party constitution cannot be implemented.

The rare agreement from the erstwhile rivals came after they both briefed divisional leaders on the party’s Greater Unity Plan.

They added that all the grassroots’ members gathered today have agreed not to attend the EGM scheduled for Nov 28.

However, noticeably missing from today’s briefing were vice-president Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai and those aligned to him.

When asked if disciplinary action would be taken against members who attended the EGM, Dr Chua said they would cross that bridge when they got to it.

The deputy president — who got back his suspended membership and post after the Oct 10 EGM — ironically said the new EGM would be meaningless.

Some 620 delegates from 155 out of the party’s 191 divisions attended the closed-door meeting and dialogue.

Besides the EGM, today’s meeting also touched on the distribution of allocations to divisions, giving more opportunity to the grassroots to select central committee leaders and making preparations to face the next general elections.

From the dialogue, Dr Chua said the grassroots want a new mechanism to select leaders, adding that MCA may adopt Umno’s methods in selecting their central leadership.

However, he said such a move requires an amendment to MCA’s constitution and for this to take place, the party needs stability.

A task force will look into the details and raise them at the Central Committee (CC) level, he said.

Dr Chua added fresh party polls may be called within six months or a year after the successful implementation of the GUP.

However, he stressed there was no deadline and the party elections could be called sooner or even later.

With the GUP in place, Dr Chua said MCA was now more stable and plans should be made to face the next general elections.

When asked why Liow and his faction were not at today’s meeting, Dr Chua said leaders are mature enough to know whether to come for meetings or not.

In a united front, both Ong and Dr Chua also denied a report in the New Straits Times which stated they were out to fix Liow.

Dr Chua said the allegations were unfair.

“He is (a) minister and I am a nobody, it is more likely that he is trying to fix me,” said Dr Chua.

“We don’t have time to fix up anybody, all we want is put the party in order. That overrides everything,” Ong chipped in.

Ong said he was still in touch with Liow and that the latter was still an MCA vice-president.

“When we talk about unity, we mean to be inclusive and we will never close the door to anyone,” said Ong, adding he was proud of the support shown by the grassroots who attended today’s meeting. – The Malaysian Insider

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