First shots fired in MCA civil war
By Shannon Teoh (The Malaysian Insider)
KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 24 – All is not well in the MCA as the party’s top two leaders look set to go toe-to-toe in a battle which is likely to have an adverse impact on the greater Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition.
Ong’s backers are also planning to have Dr Chua hauled up before the party’s disciplinary committee to have him suspended for up to two years for “tarnishing the MCA’s image.”
The president’s men plan to cite as evidence a DVD containing secretly filmed footage of Dr Chua having sex with his mistress which first surfaced more than a year ago, and which led to his resignation as health minister in 2008.
Yesterday a police report was lodged in Petaling Jaya after a resident there claimed he received a DVD in the mail containing the same footage. Investigators later questioned Dr Chua under rarely enforced laws make oral sex as a crime.
Dr Chua’s supporters see the resurfacing of the sex footage as an attempt to derail moves to call an EGM.
The Malaysian Insider understands that the EGM is being called to table a motion of no-confidence against Ong’s leadership for failing to help the party regain public support from Chinese voters.
A growing number of the grassroots are unhappy with what they perceive to be Ong’s moves to shore up his own support in MCA rather than tackling issues that resulted in the battering the party received in the March 2008 general elections.
A number of party leaders want Dr Chua to take on Ong now in a no-holds barred fight for control of the party.
When contacted by The Malaysian Insider, Dr Chua firmly insisted that the timing of the police report in relation to the sex DVD betrayed its true purpose of a political sabotage.
“Coming so close to the Elizabeth Wong saga, they believe that they can tarnish me further for my past mistakes,” he said, referring to the circulation of nude pictures of Wong which has resulted in the Selangor executive councillor offering to resign.
“It is an attempt to cow me into silence,” he added.
However, when asked if this was a move to curtail the EGM, Dr Chua refused to comment on the matter, merely saying that he would cooperate fully with the police on the case at hand.
The current investigations were initiated on Feb 10 after a Petaling Jaya resident claimed that an envelope containing the DVD and a letter was placed in his mailbox.
The letter instructed the recipient to lodge a police report after watching the video.
Upon watching the DVD, the resident realised that the DVD was a pornographic video and proceeded to make the police report.
The feud between MCA’s top two began almost immediately after they were voted in at the party’s general assembly last year.
The duo have been engaged in a war of words via statements made to the media since last October’s party elections.
Ong has openly sidelined his deputy in making party appointments, leaving Dr Chua with the responsibility of heading a minor bureau tasked with monitoring government policy.
But sources say that even in this capacity, Dr Chua has been obstructed by orders for government officials not to cooperate.
It is understood that Dr Chua has the backing of some senior Umno leaders, but there is concern that a no-holds-barred fight will have a negative impact on BN’s attempt to regain public support.
