| Race for MCA’s top post heats up |
 AUG 11 — The gloves are off in the race to become the next president of the MCA.And it is slowly turning into a contest between the presumptive frontrunner Datuk Ong Tee Keat and former vice-president Datuk Seri Dr Chua Soi Lek, the former minister forced out of office earlier this year by a sex scandal. While never naming each other directly, a war of words has erupted between the two men in the last two days. “Ong Tee Keat may want to continue with personal attacks but I will continue to work. I feel party members are more interested in a president who will work hard to revive our party. “Whether or not my apology is acceptable it is up to the MCA members to decide,” Dr Chua told The Malaysian Insider. Dr Chua, who has still not openly declared his candidacy for the party presidency, was responding to comments made on Saturday by Tee Keat, the man who has been endorsed by Datuk Seri Ong Ka Ting, the unpopular party president who is stepping down following the MCA’s loss of Chinese support in the March general election. Tee Keat had pointed out on Saturday that leaders hoping to make a political comeback cannot expect to wipe the slate clean of their wrongdoings with mere apologies, referring to the emergence of secretly taped video clips of Dr Chua engaging in sex acts with his mistress. Dr Chua said at the time the recordings were meant to kill him off politically, but he also acknowledged responsibility for what had happened and subsequently resigned as minister. The MCA’s poor performance in the elections in March has now plunged the party into a scenario in which it is finding it difficult to regain a semblance of support from Chinese voters who are now strongly backing the DAP and PKR. Tee Keat, who is the only man to have officially thrown his hat into the ring so far for the prize of becoming MCA president, is still a clear frontrunner. But Dr Chua, who has yet to declare his candidacy, has been busy campaigning, stepping-up public appearances and getting more air time on television and radio. He has been trying to position himself as a strong leader, and has criticised the current party leadership of not speaking up enough for the Chinese community and allowing Umno to ride roughshod over the MCA. Writing in his blog last week, he also appeared to have taken a swipe at Tee Keat, pointing out that the next MCA president “should not be aloof and distant,” in an apparent reference to Tee Keat’s reputation as a “lone ranger’’ who has few allies or loyal following with very few members relating to his style of leadership. But the former Health Minister will still have his work cut out for him, with Tee Keat’s attack demonstrating how the sex scandal will continue to haunt him should he decide to go for broke and contest the presidency. Besides Dr Chua, another former Health Minister, Datuk Chua Jui Meng, is also seriously considering a tilt for the presidency. While no one besides Tee Keat has declared his candidacy for the elections, what is slowly emerging is that once again the party is splitting into rival factions. There are no clear alliances yet but party stalwarts Datuk Dr Ng Yen Yen, Datuk Donald Lim and Datuk Dr Fong Chan Onn are said to be unhappy with the current leadership of Ka Ting, sharing a common stand with Dr Chua. The current party president is clearly backing a new team which includes Tee Keat, his brother Ka Chuan and the popular Datuk Liow Tiong Lai. Former president Tun Dr Ling Liong Sik, who remains influential, is said to be backing the rivals to Ka Ting’s choices. Comments (2)  Deaf MCA Leaders written by Peter Chen, August 11, 2008 Are these MCA leaders, by keeping silent, consent to the actions of the BN government in persecuting Anwar? That is the question on the minds of all MCA grassroots members. What does the MCA top leadership have to say about this other than just nodding its head in UMNO's direction, and forming cliques and what-nots to jostle for positions in MCA? Unless the concerns of the grassroots are addressed, I fear all these jostling will be in vain as MCA will collapse as a political party. So wake up and listen to the grassroots and stop turning a deaf ear: www.mca74justice.blogspot.com report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +2Write Comment | |
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We don't need 'leaders' who only dare to speak when they are out of the government!