A new leadership for MCA?
The fight between the two factions has nothing to do with the interest of the Chinese community. Instead, they are just fighting for power. Ong said that Dr Chua is desperate for the party president position while Dr Chua said that Ong is trying to eradicate dissidents.
By LIM SUE GOAN/Translated by SOONG PHUI JEE/Sin Chew Daily
The “third force” has finally surfaced and it is said that the idea of sacking both MCA President Datuk Seri Ong Tee Keat and suspended Deputy President Datuk Dr Chua Soi Lek has gained resonance from some central delegates, who are tired of the party crisis. If the two factions are unable to gain support from 50% of the delegates, Ong and Chua will have to leave together under the pressure of the third force.
Based on the current situation, the support rates for both the Ong and Chua factions have not exceeded 50%. If both of them gain close to 1,000 votes and the third force gets 300 votes, it may pass the first two motions and reject the third to sack both Ong and Dr Chua. If they want to stay, they will have to gain at least 1191 votes in the first and third motions.
Dr Chua revealed that a number of former MCA leaders have started to call the central delegates and the delegates have received letters of supporting neither Ong nor Chua. The influential person, who intends to sack both of them, needs not to show himself. As long as he is able to influence 10% of the delegates, he can control the results and become the king-maker.
| “Instead, they are just fighting for power.” |
Therefore, political deals and manipulations behind the scene have caused more concerns, particularly the tendency of former party presidents, veterans and supporters of retired leaders.
We thought that Ong should be able to control more than 50% of votes as he is in control of political resources but as the Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM) has been delayed for too long, his support rate has shown a sign of fluctuation. The backing of the Central Committee may be just a false impression.
Meanwhile, Dr Chua claimed that he has received 1250 central delegate’s signatures to request for an EGM. However, he also admitted that only 921 delegates are “die-hard supporters”. Undeniably, some signed because they are dissatisfied with the President. Chua may bring Ong down by using the third force. However, delegates who wish to sack Ong do not mean to make him the party’s head, too.
If the third force really forms a new leadership through EGM, causing the efforts of the two confronting factions to be wasted, Ong and Dr Chua can only blame themselves for keep attacking each other over the past month. Their fight has dragged in a lot of personal grudges and bored the Chinese community, as well as the party’s members, who then started to look for the “third option”.
The fight between the two factions has nothing to do with the interest of the Chinese community. Instead, they are just fighting for power. Ong said that Dr Chua is desperate for the party president position while Dr Chua said that Ong is trying to eradicate dissidents.
For over the 40 days, both of them had chances to gain more than 50% support but they failed to come out with a convincing argument. The 3R (Reject, Reunite and Rejuvenate) manifesto of Dr Chua proposed a future direction and duty for MCA but it did not touch on how to reform the political system of the party and the country.
Ong focused on “anti-corruption” but he did not mention how to resolve conflicts within the party, adjust the leadership style, enhance MCA’s status in BN and how will MCA, a party based on racial politics, adapt to the two-line system.
Regardless what is the outcome, the history is going to record a meaningless political struggle, which will be as well the most shameful page in MCA history.
