Fresh polls best way out
There are clear signs that the massive desertion from the MCA by the Chinese community in the last general election has not reversed itself. The ugliness of the recent power struggle within the MCA culminating in the inconclusive EGM can only alienate the Chinese masses further.
By Sim Kwang Yang, Malaysian Mirror
To the shock of MCA supporters and sideline observers, the MCA delegates had voted their party into an impossible impasse, creating vacuum at the apex of the party structure.
While commentators may in the days ahead interpret the motives of the delegates for voting as they did, the end result of the general will of those MCA delegates remains the same: they have rejected both Ong Tee Keat and Chua Soi Lek.
Never has past MCA crises produced such an impossible scenario; the top two posts of party president and deputy president are now vacant.
According to the MCA party constitution, a no-confidence motion against the president requires a two-third majority for it to be carried, and so Ong is legally still the MCA president, since he lost only by a razor thin margin only
But Ong has declared that even if he loses by a simple majority, he would not cling onto the post; in fact the whole presidential council should resign en bloc. He has burned his bridges, and now he must face the music.
Pressure from Unmo
Ong is currently on leave for four days, to lick his wounds and to ponder upon his options, which are limited indeed. When the central committee meets next Thursday, they could urge Ong to stay on as president, and Ong may crumble to pressure for the sake of his party. To do so however, would tarnish his reputation as a man of principle, and he will lose his moral authority to lead the party forever.
Already, there is pressure for Umno luminaries for Ong to quit. The PM and Umno president Najib Abdul Razak had urged Ong to respect the decision of the MCA delegates at the EGM. Former PM Dr Mahathir Mohamad also echoed similar sentiments.
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