Former MCA vice-president Chua Jui Meng, who today quit as Bakri division chief, denied that he would be defecting to the opposition.

Chua tonight called an emergency meeting of his Bakri MCA division in Johor where he resigned as its division chief. His deputy, Sia Ka Tuan, has been appointed as the division’s acting chief.

In response to an earlier Malaysiakini report today that he was set to join PKR, Chua said this was not the first time that there had been talk of him joining the opposition.

mca agm 181008 chua jui meng "At the last general election, I was made an offer to contest as an opposition candidate but I rejected it," he was quoted as saying by Bernama .

He urged members of the division to give their undivided support to MCA president Ong Tee Keat.

"The time has come for me to give way to a younger person. In the history of the MCA, rarely has any chief handed over his post to an opponent after a fierce contest the previous year," he said, referring to his battle with Sia.

"I have forgiven those who have challenged me in last year's elections," he said at a press conference at the Bakri MCA Division office following a one-hour closed door meeting with his committee members.

Chua added that he would announce his future political plans “when the time arrives”.

Lost twice in presidential contest

Chua, 64, a former health minister and a trained lawyer, has been Bakri MCA division chief for 23 years.

He contested for the MCA president’s post twice and lost to two Ongs - Ong Ka Ting in 2005 and Ong Tee Keat in 2008.

Chua was not picked to defend his Bakri parliamentary seat in

the general election last year.

The seat was subsequently won by DAP's Er Teck Hwa. Bakri is the sole parliamentary seat in Johor which fell to the opposition in the 2008 general elections.

When approached during hearing of his sodomy trial, PKR de facto leader Anwar Ibrahim declined to comment on the rumoured defection.

He said it was up to Chua to make the announcement.

It is learnt that PKR is planning an event on Saturday to "welcome" Chua into the party.