I refer to the Malaysiakini report ( The peace plan that Ong spurned , Sept 11, 2009).

It is a fair account of the effort to mediate between Ong Tee Keat and Chua Soi Lek except for an important fact that was somehow excluded.

Tan Sri Lim Kok Wing made the major effort in the mediation but he was not the only Chinese community leader who was involved.

Several others, in one way or another, also played a role behind the scenes in attempting to calm the turmoil in MCA.

They included the chairman and chief executive of Malayan United Industries Berhad Tan Sri Khoo Kay Peng; the chairman and chief executive officer of Berjaya Group Berhad Tan Sri Vincent Tan Chee Yioun; and the president of the Associated Chinese Chambers of Commerce and Industry Malaysia Tan Sri William Cheng.

Former MCA deputy president Tan Sri Lim Ah Lek also tried to bring the two sides together. All these leaders failed.

Some in MCA now suspect it was always the strategy of the Ong camp to adopt an intransigent stand during the mediation talks to force an EGM where the incumbent president would have a psychological edge.

At the EGM, Ong would be the only one of the two bitter rivals able to address the delegates present as Chua has been expelled. Party members are, by nature, reluctant to go against their leader, especially one whom they had chosen less than a year ago.

Moreover, the alternative to Ong is not all that appealing to many party members because of his personal controversies.

On the other hand, any peace accord mediated by outsiders is likely to favour restoring stability in the party rather than advancing the individual interests of the two leaders whose fight caused the boat to rock in the first place.

Therefore, it is quite logical for Ong's faction to fear that any agreement struck could disadvantage it and might even result in its leader being forced to step down.

The recent string of negative media reports about Ong point to an ingenious attempt to deliberately make Ong the victim of a demonisation plot in order to build support for him.

Simultaneously, Chua was praised as more capable in news reports written with information fed by the group which was bound to create suspicion that the MCA No 2 might be beholden to outsiders.

Early on, letters and news reports had been appearing in newspapers and news portals since last month that contained subtle messages to heighten the concerns and fears of the party rank and file.

The reports, although filled with the tribulations of Ong, carried the unmistakable suggestion that the MCA's internal problems were all about one man's unhappiness over his lack of a prestigious role in the party.

They also raised the frightening possibility that the infighting could cause the disintegration of the party. Implausible? Not at all.

Just examine the MIC elections where S Samy Vellu was vilified and both outsiders and the media were used to call for change only to see the MIC supremo's team making a near clean sweep.

Be wary of being manipulated - that is what all delegates must remember come the next MCA EGM.