Members smell a rat
By Baradan Kuppusamy (The Star)
Sacked MCA deputy president Datuk Seri Dr Chua Soi Lek’s faction claims to have enough signatures to call for an EGM but it has not called for it. Could it mean that the fight is off?
RECENT political developments indicate the extraordinary general meeting planned by supporters of expelled MCA deputy president Datuk Seri Dr Chua Soi Lek might be in trouble.
Although the conveners of the EGM, especially chief coordinator Datuk Seri Tan Chai Ho, had publicly claimed that they had the signatures of 800 delegates necessary to request for an EGM, until now they have not made the request, raising suspicion that their numbers don’t tally.
They also have not submitted their resolutions to the MCA headquarters in the time they had promised.
Not only have they not submitted the request for an EGM but they have raised the number of signatures they have to 1,200 or more and with that they expanded their demands to not just reinstate Dr Chua but also to oust party president Datuk Seri Ong Tee Keat.
MCA rank and file are smelling a ruse as the claimed number of signatures rose but no request was made for an EGM.
“If they have the numbers as they claim, they would have gone for the jugular by now,” said a MCA observer.
“They have not … and that can only mean their numbers are suspect.”
MCA insiders suspect the Dr Chua’s faction might be trying to goad the MCA delegates into gathering behind them by claiming to have the numbers.
This might be the case especially with some MCA divisions now reporting that delegates who had earlier given their support for an EGM were now opting out.
They had given their support before Ong had announced that the MCA will call an EGM to debate and decide on the matters — namely a vote of confidence in Ong’s management of the party and an endorsement of the expulsion of Dr Chua.
“Many delegates feel two EGMs with the same purpose and back-to-back and within days of the MCA AGM is foolish and a waste of time,” an MCA division leader said.
Other delegates are opting out after attending “no-holds-barred” briefings given behind closed doors by Ong who toured the country last week to shore up support, raise morale and keep the party united.
As a consequence of these developments there is intense speculation that Dr Chua’s faction were holding back from requesting an EGM because support for it is faltering.
Support is also wavering as delegates come under intense pressure to think about the party and its future and not just pander to the ambitions of one individual who was expelled over a scandal of his own making.
By delaying requesting an EGM, MCA observers said Dr Chua is also losing the initiative and momentum that he had enjoyed in the aftermath of his sacking.
Others speculate that Dr Chua’s faction might also be trying to goad the delegates into demanding an EGM — a tactic used by Opposition leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim with his Sept 16 ruse to engineer defections from Barisan Nasional to Pakatan Rakyat.
That strategy failed simply because the Barisan stayed calm and called the bluff.
Sept 16 came and went without a whimper.
Likewise MCA leaders believe Dr Chua’s faction is having difficulties with the numbers.
They have the support but not enough to carry the floor at the EGM.
It is no point, MCA sources said, for Dr Chua to amass 800 signatures to request an EGM but lose the battle on the floor before the MCA’s 2,400 central delegates.
“The fact that they have not requested for an EGM, which needs only 800 signatures, shows they are not confident of carrying the floor which will need double that number,” a source said.
MCA secretary-general Datuk Wong Foon Meng said on Tuesday that he had not received Dr Chua’s faction requisition and the proposed resolutions.
However, Wong also said that the party president had already handed in his requisition along with the proposed resolutions.
That puts the ball squarely in Dr Chua’s court — whether to continue with their requisition for an EGM or formally call it off and fight and hopefully prevail at the EGM called by the president.
