chua soi lek and donald lim and mca The Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) has banned the live telecast of the debate between two MCA deputy president candidates tonight.

“We have been advised by MCMC to not proceed with the ‘live’ telecast,” said ntv7 in a brief press statement.

The debate between deputy president aspirants - former Petaling Jaya Selatan parliamentarian Donald Lim and former health minister Dr Chua Soi Lek - is scheduled to take place at the Nanyang Siang Pau auditorium in Kelana Jaya at 8.30pm tonight.

Two other candidates for the post, current party secretary-general Ong Ka Chuan and former Penang’s Pengkalan Kota state assemblyperson Lee Hack Teik have both declined to take part in the debate.

“The debate will be recorded and submitted to the Censorship Board for approval for telecast at a later date,” added the three-paragraph ntv7 statement. “We apologise to our viewers and all parties involved in this project.”

According to ntv7, the MCMC letter states that the application from the TV station for permission to air the debate live came too late and was thus rejected.

MCMC, a government agency under the Energy, Water and Communications Ministry, is empowered to regulate matters relating to communications and multimedia activities, including private TV and radio stations as well as Internet websites.

The licencing of private TV and radio stations comes under its purview.

One-man presidential debate tomorrow

According to ntv7 editor-in-chief Mohsin Abdullah, the station will also go ahead with the troubled presidential debate tomorrow which is likely to involve one man, former health minister Chua Jui Meng.

The other contestant, Transport Minister Ong Tee Keat, said he was too busy with his ministerial duties to join in the debate.

“We have appealed to Ong to reconsider his decision,” said Mohsin. “We remain hopeful of a last-minute change of heart.”

Mohsin said that as Chua had confirmed his participation, the debate will turned into a town hall-style forum.

During the one-hour forum to be moderated by political analyst Dr Oh Ei Sun, the MCA president hopeful will answer questions posed by four panelists - Chinese Chambers of Commerce’s David Chua, MCA veteran Michael Cheng, Nanyang Siang Pau writer Koh Kok Wai and ntv7 English news presenter Florence Looi.

“Journalists covering the event can also pose questions. Chua will also take questions in Mandarin, Bahasa Malaysia and English from the audience,” said Mohsin.

The Chinese-based political party will have its polls on Saturday.