The biggest winner of the MCA EGM is ………………DAP!

By  Sim Kwang Yang

When the voting results came out in the afternoon of October 10 (Saturday), I was in the neighbourhood coffee shop with my neighbour Jimmy.

Jimmy is a retired teacher from Penang.  Though his son-in-law is the treasurer of a local MCA branch, he is himself non-partisan.  But like many Malaysian Chinese, he hates pandemic corruption in high places.

When he learned that the MCA EGM had carried the motion of no-confidence against Ong Tee Kiat as party President, he was very upset.

He said he had no goodwill towards the MCA, but he has tremendous respect for Ong because of his work in unearthing the massive abuse of funds in the PKFZ.  He said Ong is the only MCA leader who could reform the party and the government for the good of the people.  He was thinking of joining MCA to help Ong, but now the delegates’ rejection of Ong means there is no chance of salvation for the MCA.

I narrate this little story because I suspect many of the non-partisan Chinese probably share Jimmy’s view.

Many of my Chinese friends – especially those of the older generation – have told me in private they admire Ong for what he has done to reveal the PKFZ scandal.  None of them has praised Chua Soi Lek in any way.  One friend Steven said that if Chua had been restored as MCA Deputy President despite his sex scandal, the Malaysian Chinese would be the laughing stock of the world.

In an independent survey by the Merdeka Centre days before the MCA EGM, 32.2% of those Chinese polled supported Ong, while only 5.8% said Chua would be better.

But the more than 2000 MCA delegates thought otherwise.  By razor-thin margins, they voted out both Ong and Chua as President and Deputy President respectively, though they did restore Chua’s party membership.  It just goes to show that the MCA delegates have lost touch with the sentiment of the Chinese community.

Technically, Ong is still MCA President, because their constitution requires a two-thirds majority in a no-confidence motion for the EGM to remove their President.  But Ong haf declared that even if the motion were passed with a simple majority, he and the whole presidential council would  have to resign.

Then, two of the four Vice Presidents would  have to fill the posts of President and Vice President somehow, but this option is hardly viable, because they do not have the mandate of the delegates in a party election!

In short, the MCA EGM has resolved nothing, but has created an unprecedented crisis of an absolute vacuum at the highest echelon of the party leadership.

Ong has taken a short break to lick his wounds, and to ponder upon his next move.  The Central Committee is scheduled to meet  next Thursday, and they can pass a resolution to keep Ong as President, and Ong  might in theory bow to their pressure and remain in office, as their party constitution allows.

But he would be seen as flip-flopping on his earlier declaration and his credibility would suffer.  I don’t see how he can renegade on that earlier promise to step down if the delegates have expressed no confidence in his leadership.

The other option is for the MCA to have a fresh party election in another EGM.  That would set off another round of intense campaigning and lobbying, both in the press and within the party, opening up more fissures for more future power struggle, weakening the MCA even further.

In short, the results of the recent MCA EGM could not have been worse for the party, at a time when they did need to resolve their problems badly.  Their delegates have really bungled up this one.

Also, the UMNO Grand Old Man Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah has on his blog pointed out the damaging implication of this failed MCA EGM.

All the MCA cabinet ministers are appointed upon the recommendation of Ong Tee Kiat in his capacity as MCA President.  This seems to be the tradition within the Barisan Nasional government.

Now that the EGM delegates have fired Ong as their President, the position of the cabinet ministers and deputy ministers recommended by him for appointment must also be in doubt.  By right, they should all resign their cabinet portfolios, and let the new president make new recommendations – if they have any sense of honour.

Fortunately for the MCA, honour is not a strong suit among their leaders.

So now, MCA is in uncharted territories.  In the next few days, their leaders will be cracking their heads wondering how to get out of this jam without losing cohesion and face.  Meanwhile, we can be sure of endless internal intrigue and lobbying by hidden hands to try to gain advantage out of the muddied waters of the worst crisis MCA has ever confronted in their 60 year history.

Already, the Chinese voters have turned in droves away from the MCA lately.  Even in the Merdeka poll, you notice that only 32% of the Chinese support Ong Tee Kiat.  That is a low percentage of MCA die hard supporters.  How will the other 68% vote in the next general election?

As you read this, there are numerous voices bouncing around on the Internet that MCA has indeed lost their relevance and their connection with the Chinese community in Malaysia.  The ugly mess created by the delegates at the recent EGM will only convince Chinese voters that the party as a whole has lost their head and heart, as my neighbour Jimmy has concluded.

So in the end, who is the biggest winner at the MCA EGM?  The DAP and the PR of course!

Is that such a bad thing?

End