MCA Team A leaders today assured Deputy Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi that the party would settle its leadership cisis constitutionally at the party elections scheduled for June.

Party president Dr Ling Liong Sik said the deputy premier was happy to hear that MCA leaders did not foresee any big trouble at the elections.

We told him we will settle the problem in our own way, constitutionally, said the MCA chief.

Ling had led a delegation comprising some 30 party leaders, majority of whom are central committee members aligned to him, to meet with Abdullah in Putrajaya.

According to the MCA Team A leader, Abdullah, when told that the party would resolve the matter internally, said: Surely you must settle it on your own.

Pak Lah also said we are in our (party) positions today because of the MCA general assembly and therefore if there are any problems, we must go back to the general assembly, said Ling.

However, he said the deputy premier did not inquire about the split in MCA and the alleged presence of phantom members on the partys membership list released recently.

Produce proof

Asked to comment on the issue of phantom members, the party president urged his deputy Lim Ah Lek, who leads Team B, to produce proof.

Dont just talk, take out the proof ... they (Team B) should not smear one million members just because of some 200 dubious members, he said.

Asked if Team B leaders were invited for this afternoons meeting with Abdullah, Ling replied: They have never invited me.

On Sunday, Lim charged that irregularities in the new membership list was serious and called for the cleaning up of the list before the party elections.

MCA Wanita deputy chief Dr Tan Yee Kew, who is aligned to Team B, had also claimed that thousands of dubious members have been identified.

Yesterday, party central committee member Donald Lim from Team A alleged that members who had died years ago were found to be still on the membership list for divisions headed by Team B leaders.

Controversial deal

MCA, the second largest ruling party representing Chinese Malaysians, has some 1.35 million members in over 4,000 divisions nationwide.

Since last December, Team B leaders had repeatedly expressed their concern over some 135,000 new members signed up by the party in less than a year.

MCA has been plagued with an internal bickering since the party acquired two Chinese dailies in May last year.

The controversial deal resulted in a severe split that divided leaders and members into two factions commonly referred to as Team A and Team B.

The factional rivalry has heightened as the party elections draw nearer. It is widely speculated that Lim may take on Ling for the presidents post.

Last month, Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad held separate meetings with both the MCA factions and urged them to put party unity before personal interests.