Factionalism persists in MCA
Soi Lek’s men say the new line-up of officials is skewed in favour of Liow’s camp.
Stanley Koh, Free Malaysia Today
In the run-up to last month’s MCA election, some members actually harboured the hope that their party was entering a fresh chapter where the curse of factionalism would be a thing of the past. That hope was prompty dashed last week, when the new president, Liow Tiong Lai, announced the line-up of party officials.
Accusations are zapping across Facebook, Twitter and mobile phones that Liow’s appointments are lopsided in favour of his faction. Most of the complaints, of course, come from those aligned to former president Chua Soi Lek.
True enough, Chua’s men and women, even if they are included in the line-up, have been consigned to the fringe. For instance, Chua Tee Yong, the former president’s son, is chairman of Perlis MCA although he also heads the Economic Consultative Committee. And the new Wanita chief, the pro-Chua Heng Seai Kie, leads the Consumer Affairs Bureau.
The pledge of not maintaining a winner-take-all philosophy has been “thrown out the window”, to use the words of a pro-Chua warlord.
Appointments to key posts are dominated by figures seen to be closely aligned with Liow. Ong Ka Chuan is Secretary General, Kua Peng Soon is Treasurer General, Yoo Wei How is National Organising Secretary and Chor Chee Heung is chairman of the Disciplinary Committee.
Chua’s supporters also claim that Liow has decided to consolidate his power by placing core leaders of his faction as chiefs in the important states of Penang, Selangor, Federal Terroritories, Johor, Pahang and Sabah.
As for Negeri Sembilan and Malacca, an insider claimed that deputy president Wee Ka Siong and Liow himself had decided to be acting state chiefs because the two states contain many divisions dominated by Chua loyalists.
Gan Peng Sieu, who lost to Liow in the presidential race, has been appointed as head of the Syariah Law and Policy Implementation.
Gan told FMT he had not even been informed of the appointment. “I can’t say whether I am or am not accepting this appointment because I do not know the terms of reference and other details,” he said, adding that he would release a press statement after he had received the information he needed.
Notably absent from the line-up is Tee Siew Kiong, said to be a staunch Chua supporter. According to a party veteran claiming knowledge of a peace plan being tossed around before the election, there was a promise to give Tee a key post.
“But that peace plan misfired during the election process when both camps betrayed each other,” he said.
The new president’s men are defending the line-up. A highly placed member of this group, who asked not to be identified, said:
“The president is in haste to move the party forward and keep it afloat. I’m sure the appointments are made on the basis of merit and the capabilities of his men. There is no room for factionalism . Hopefully, it is kept to a minimum.
“The creation of an eight-member task force speaks for itself.”
Meanwhile, there are rumours that Chua Senior is considering making a call on his successor to voice his displeasure over the new appointments.
The current unhappiness over the appointments, some say, is only the beginning in a long and herculean task that MCA faces in trying to win back public support, particularly from the Chinese community.
Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak’s teasing remark that MCA was in need of a “political Viagra” is not something to be proud of.
