Liow: Chua's allegations are personal

MCA deputy president Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai has denied the allegations that he had called for Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin's intervention in party matters, including its extraordinary general meeting (EGM) scheduled this Sunday.

He described the allegations, especially the ones made by MCA president Datuk Seri Dr Chua Soi Lek, as 'personal' with intention of preventing him from contesting as the party's next president.

"I would like to clarify that these allegations are wild and totally untrue. I stick to my belief that MCA can manage its internal matters without any intervention," he told reporters at Wisma MCA on Friday.

He also claimed that Chua had intentions to tarnish his good name by using character assassination when alleging that Liow had 'forced' him to resign from his post.

Liow said Chua in several closed gatherings and press conferences had claimed that the former caused fractures in MCA and had misused the party's transformation committee to criticise the party president.

He also said Chua accused him of spending RM600,000 of the party's money on trips to China and Taiwan.

In his defence, Liow said in his 31 years of serving the party, not even once he had committed any offence against the party or the country, and that he had given his best during his tenure as a member of parliament and minister.

"I've always been a leader of principles who takes care of the nation's interest."

As a leader, he said, he listened to the grouses and opinions of party members.

Liow also denied the allegation that he had failed to carry out his duties as MCA's election committee chairman.

"Over the last nine months, I've set up operation rooms in every division and made sure they communicated with the central committee," he said.

He also refuted Chua's allegation that he had only visited "not more than 10" out of the 127 constituencies in the past three and a half years.

Liow said he had definitely visited more than 10 constituencies although he could not recall the exact number.

"I've visited many places until I cannot recall how many, but it's surely more than 10 because there's more than 10 constituencies in Pahang itself. I've visited more than 10 constituencies in Johor, too, on top of many other places. The accusation is totally baseless," said the Bentong MP.

Meanwhile, Liow reiterated his intention to contest for the party's presidency but left it to the delegates to make the right choice and determine MCA's future in Sunday's EGM.

The former health minister was also confident that MCA Youth Chief Datuk Dr Wee Ka Siong would continue to support him.

On the party's refusal to join the Cabinet or take up government positions, Liow dismissed the perception that if MCA suddenly decides to join the Cabinet, it would create a bad impression on them, saying that MCA had already fulfilled its promise.

He said the party's decision to join the Cabinet would need to be re-examined from time to time.