Ong amenable to MCA polls in March 2010

Ong amenable to MCA polls in March 2010

http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/index.php/malaysia/44357-ong-amenable-to-mca-polls-in-march-2010-

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 23 - MCA president Ong Tee Keat has joined his deputy Datuk Dr Chua Soi Lek in agreeing to hold party polls in March 2010 if it is conducted with the new direct elections by divisional delegates.

MCA NGO Liaison Bureau chief Datuk Ti Lian Ker said today Ong had never objected to fresh polls but insisted it must be done according to the party constitution.

Both Ong and Dr Chua were elected to their posts in October 2008 for a three-year term.

“On the fresh poll date, the President have no qualms with next March 2010, if the new electoral system involving the divisional delegates is ready,” Ti said in a statement released today.

He also castigated Ong’s rivals who have gone to the media and MCA’s allies within the Barisan Nasional in their efforts to force new party elections. Barisan Nasional deputy chairman Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin said earlier today it would take him a week to resolve the MCA’s leadership crisis.

The crisis erupted when the Ong-controlled central committee sacked Dr Chua for smearing the party’s image for his involvement in a sex DVD that came to light in end 2007.

Dr Chua’s sacking was reduced to a four-year suspension but an extraordinary general meeting (EGM) on Oct 10 voted to overturn the suspension.

Ong then promoted vice-president Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai as deputy president but Dr Chua appealed to the Registrar of Societies (RoS) who affirmed that Dr Chua was the rightful deputy.

Liow is now claiming that both leaders were rejected by the Oct 10 EGM and wants to call for another EGM on Nov 28 to ask for fresh polls this year.

Both Ong and Dr Chua who have since made up under a “Greater Unity Plan” have objected to the fresh EGM or party elections this year, saying Liow is still welcome to be part of the unity plan.

“In the interest of the party, we should be able to discuss and settle our problems internally from within the party. There is no necessity to force a perception that we are unable to sit down and discuss civilly with one another towards an amicable settlement of any dispute within the party,” Ti added.

He noted that Ong was the first person who had mooted the idea for fresh polls but was opposed vehemently by leaders such as Liow who were not in favour of calling for a fresh vote.

“This surprised the president who thought then that the CC members who had sworn to stand by him would vacate their CC seats en bloc through their resignation in order to pave way for a fresh poll in accordance with the provisions of the constitution. Nobody, including the president, could ever dissolve the CC duly elected in accordance with the constitution,” he added.

Ti also claimed the “Greater Unity Plan” is to unite the party and for a fresh election “when tempers have cooled and the delegates are clear of the issues facing the party”, adding Dr Chua had already announced that the party plans to have direct elections within six months.

He also reiterated that the unity plan was endorsed by Barisan Nasional chairman Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak, who, however, said in recent days that the plan has clearly failed.

“It is such a mockery that Liow’s group is now harping on a fresh poll as if it’s their brainchild. They were deliberately silent on their objection to the idea of a fresh vote mooted by the president earlier.

“Their flip-flop is merely to derail the GUP and to embarrass the party and the President by inviting the interference of the Prime Minister and his Deputy. The recent events had clearly revealed their true sense of democracy and integrity,” Ti said.