PETALING JAYA: A nationwide campaign to convene an extraordinary general meeting is under way in MCA to oust party president Datuk Seri Ong Tee Keat and to reinstate his sacked deputy, Datuk Seri Dr Chua Soi Lek, all within two to three weeks.
The campaign seeks to get signatures of one-third, or 800, central delegates of the party.
The EGM has two motions on its agenda — to call for a vote of no-confidence in Ong and to reverse the decision of the presidential council and reinstate Dr Chua.
Puchong division vice-chief Datuk Theng Book, who is the “unofficial organiser” of the EGM, is confident of getting support from the party’s central delegates.
“There should be no problem.
Please come forward to save MCA,” he said at a press conference yesterday, which was attended by 20 pro-Dr Chua supporters, including leaders from Petaling Jaya Utara, Petaling Jaya Selatan, Puchong and Ampang divisions.
According to the party’s constitution, an EGM can be called by the president or requested in writing by one-third of the central committee or one-third of the general assembly.
Speculation had been rife since early this year that Dr Chua’s supporters will call for an EGM to remove Ong.
Although both Ong and Dr Chua had denied this, the talk persists.
The call for an EGM is expected to gain momentum in the coming days as most members, comprising Dr Chua’s supporters, sympathisers and fence-sitters who are unhappy with the sacking, are expected to throw their weight behind it.
Dr Chua was sacked from the party on Wednesday night for tarnishing the party’s image due to his DVD sex scandal.
The party’s presidential council on Wednesday night unanimously decided to adopt its disciplinary panel recommendation that Dr Chua be expelled from the party.
Dr Chua was caught on video having a tryst with a woman at a hotel in Johor in 2007. He subsequently resigned from all government and party posts.
But he was elected MCA deputy president in the party elections last October.
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| Puchong MCA division vice-chief Datuk Theng Book (seated, second from left) and supporters of Datuk Seri Dr Chua Soi Lek at the press conference yesterday. |
Theng, who was the pro-tem chairman of the "Save MCA" campaign, said he and his supporters would travel nationwide to canvass support from the central delegates.
The campaign was launched last year to pressure former president Tan Sri Ong Ka Ting and his brother, former secretary-general Datuk Ong Ka Chuan, to resign. Both leaders have since left politics.
Theng said the presidential council's decision to sack Dr Chua showed that it did not respect the wishes of the party members who had voted for Dr Chua to be their deputy president.
He also took a swipe at Ong, saying that the president had a track record of causing disunity within the party.
Citing an example, Theng said Ong was the party Youth chief when the infamous chair-throwing incident took place in 2001 during the infighting between former president Tun Dr Ling Liong Sik and his former deputy Tan Sri Lim Ah Lek.
"He caused the chair-throwing incident which led to a party crisis. I think in the next party crisis, he will cause the party to collapse. It cannot be denied that the president is only good at destroying the party."
Theng also blasted Ong, saying that he had tarnished the party's image with his recent actions.
"He is suing someone (Bintulu member of parliament Datuk Seri Tiong King Sing) for claiming that he received RM10 million in donations, but Ong himself also claimed that people are raising RM100 million to topple him. I say show proof, or apologise."
He also took Ong to task for describing some Johor MCA members as gangsters.
"If this is true, then he (Ong) is the head of gangsters," said Theng.
Ong had also been disrespectful to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak when he claimed that he could lose his job as transport minister by hinting that the prime minister did not want him to get to the bottom of the Port Klang Free Zone scandal, he added.
Asked whether Dr Chua was behind the campaign, Theng said the group operated independently and Dr Chua would be notified of the details of the EGM.
Ampang division vice-chairman Lok Pek Ming, who was also at the press conference, said it was unfair to sack Dr Chua since he was democratically elected by the central delegates.
"We are unhappy with the decision and we hope the central delegates will stand up for Dr Chua," he said.
Petaling Jaya Utara division secretary Datuk Dr Wong Sai Hou said the party could not afford to go through another crisis.
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