MCA EGM to go on despite ROS letter

The MCA extraordinary general meeting (EGM) tomorrow will proceed as scheduled despite an advice from the Registrar of Societies (ROS) to drop the first motion, said MCA president Datuk Seri Dr Chua Soi Lek.

He said all four motions for discussion tomorrow, were in accordance with the party's constitution.

"Everything is done according to the party's constitution and nothing is an infringement to the MCA's constitution. Tomorrow's EGM will proceed with all the motions," Chua told a press conference at the Wisma MCA today.

The first motion for tomorrow's EGM is aimed at censuring party deputy president Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai for allegedly disrespecting the decision of the Central Committee to suspend Pulai Sebatang Assemblyman Datuk Tee Siew Keong for accepting the appointment by the Sultan of Johor as a state executive councillor.

Referring to the letter from ROS which was sent to the MCA headquarters on Thursday, Dr Chua said since the letter was an advice, it would be taken in the "spirit" that it was an advice.

He added that he had sent a letter to ROS, saying the EGM tomorrow was according to the party's constitution, and that a copy of the letter was also sent to the home minister yesterday.

Meanwhile at another press conference, also in Wisma MCA, party vice-president Gan Ping Sieu referred to the ROS letter as an unsolicited advice.

"We need to stress that the unity of MCA is a party matter and the motion is a political decision by the central delegates, and not a legal issue to be determined by the ROS.

"It is not a direction, just an advice. (The) MCA does not require (need) outside interference in our own party affairs. We strongly believe our central delegates have the wisdom to decide what is in the best interest of the party," he said.

Gan said the time had come for MCA to build a better political culture within the party.

"We cannot afford to have open bickering and engaging in a media war. It serves nothing but (only) destroys the party," he said.

Meanwhile, Liow at a separate press conference at Wisma MCA, said that as a defendant, he had taken the necessary measures to face the delegates tomorrow.

"If the motions raised are wrong according to the law and constitution, the president should be held responsible," he said, adding that he had prepared a letter written in Mandarin and English to prepare for his defence.

The letter was being distributed to the delegates today, he said, while displaying it to the media.

The deputy president said he was more concerned about facing the delegates because he knew that in a political party, he had to defend his position and clarify (whatever issues).

"I do not want to be written in history as the deputy president sanctioned by the central delegates. It is not only shameful and (is tantamount to) shaming me but it will also cause the party a lot of problems later," he said.

In the two-page letter entitled, 'Upfront and Personal with Liow Tiong Lai', which was distributed to the delegates today, Liow admitted he had, on numerous occasions, held different views with the party president.

"But, looking at the bigger picture of party unity, I have graciously granted my cooperation and support to the president to enable the party to move forward," he said.