Time running out on MCA?

The results cannot be more clear. They should do what respectable leaders do, that is to go quietly and make way for new leadership. Their time is truly over.

By Sharon Tan, The Edge

THE dust from last Saturday’s MCA extraordinary general meeting (EGM) will continue to cloud the party’s vision in the days ahead as it struggles to navigate its way out of its worst crisis in 60 years.

Already there are many calls for party president Datuk Seri Ong Tee Keat to vacate his office as the central delegates passed a motion of no confidence against him with a slim 14-vote majority (1,155 for the motion and 1,141 against).

Suspended deputy president Datuk Seri Dr Chua Soi Lek got his membership suspension nullified, but the delegates showed their displeasure by not reinstating him to his position.

The results of all three motions were very close and showed that the party is split. However, it could be the best thing to happen to MCA because it gives it the opportunity to start afresh. The party can now choose a new team to help chart a new direction, quickly.The party’s third force has perhaps done the party a favour by causing delegates to vote as they did.

Even when Datuk Tan Kah Choun, who claimed to represent the third force, held a press conference just 48 hours before the EGM, many still pooh-poohed its potential threat. However, a simple calculation would show that a swing of merely 300 votes (there are 2,380 central delegates) in its favour would send both Ong and Chua out of the door, which was its main objective.

Up till now, no one has claimed to be behind the third force although there have been much speculation about their identities. From Umno to MCA’s own party veterans, its real face has not been uncovered.

However, it could just be a group of delegates who are fed up with the crisis and saw an alternative presented to them. What Tan merely did was to send a signal that they had a third choice. It was the objective that united them all and it was enough to send blows to Ong and Chua.

Ong had said he would take full responsibility for the outcome of the EGM but his band of advisers should also shoulder the blame for the over-zealous campaign that had turned off many who had supported or sympathised with him. The final two weeks of campaigning, with its advertisement and opinion pieces, left a bad taste in the mouth.

One of the biggest mistakes Ong made was to fall into the trap of focusing on Chua. Even in not giving Chua his dues, Ong should have ignored him instead of engaging him. In the end, if Ong had done anything good for the party or his ministry, his work was clouded by the feud.

While Chua has been granted his wish to die as an MCA member, the delegates also decided that they’ve had a change of mind as to his position as the deputy president.

They may have given him that stunning comeback last October. This time around, they were less forgiving. They realised that MCA would need a person with less baggage to get it through the rough times without having to endure the sniggering.

Both Ong and Chua could argue on technical grounds that there was no two-thirds majority needed to strip them of their respective positions, and they would probably be right. But the reality is that they no longer have the moral ground to continue.

The results cannot be more clear. They should do what respectable leaders do, that is to go quietly and make way for new leadership. Their time is truly over.

Any attempt to stay would only invite bad press and more criticism. Party members and other leaders are tired of the bickering. A year is too short to judge Ong’s leadership but a year worth of bad press of the party where only two names dominated the headlines was simply too much to take. MCA has very little time to turn around before the next general election descends upon the country. The party has lost and continues to lose support from the Chinese community for its inability to move with the times.

MCA has been terribly quiet on many issues in the past year. The two items of news that emerged from the party have been the Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ) scandal and the Ong-Chua feud — news that has not endeared the party to the community. The party is restless and wants to move on. Whoever helms the party next ought to take a lesson from all this. The party must always come first.

If MCA does not reform itself before the next general election, it may have even fewer lawmakers in future. What is the point of calling itself a party that represents the Chinese community when the Chinese give their votes to others? Next, all eyes will be on the central committee (CC) meeting on Thursday. The committee will deliberate on many matters, including Ong’s position and possible election of new leaders. There must be no stalling. Time is running out for the biggest Chinese party outside China.

The EGM was like the tribal council meeting in the hit reality show Survivor. The central delegates had essentially snuffed out Ong’s and Chua’s torches last Saturday. And in the words of Jeff Probst: “The tribe has spoken. It is time for you to go.”