MCA overturns Johor exco’s suspension
Party says that Tee Siew Kiong has shown proof that the Sultan of Johor was the one who appointed him as an exco.
Leven Woon, FMT
MCA has lifted a 3 year suspension imposed against former national organising secretary Tee Siew Kiong, who became a Johor executive councillor despite the party’s pledge to decline all government posts, after the 13th general election in May.
The suspension was lifted after Tee presented new evidence to the MCA central committee to prove that he did not take the position on his own free will but on the orders of the Johor Sultan.
MCA president Chua Soi Lek said Tee, in his appeal to the party central committee, attached a statement showing that the Sultan was the one who has appointed Tee to the state exco.
“Sultan said it very clearly…it was his royal command that Siew Kiong was appointed. So after much discussion, majority of us felt that Siew Kiong’s suspension should be lifted with immediate effect,” he told a media conference after a central committee meeting this evening.
Johor palace official Jaba Mohd Noah in a notice dated July 1 said that “all parties, including MCA leaders or others, should respect the decision made by the Sultan… the Sultan has appointed Tee so that every race in the state has their representations in the exco line-up”.
Chua said Tee would only be reinstated as the MCA central committee member, but not as the national organising secretary post he previously held.
“But he can also attend and take part in the coming party elections,” he said.
Tee, a Chua’s protégé, was slapped with three year suspension in June for accepting the exco post, despite him crying foul that his appointment was done on the Sultan’s royal decree.
MCA’s “no government post pledge” only applies to government posts only recommended by the party.
