MCA membership row - EGM on the cards
Following Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad's announcement that the government and courts cannot interfere in party affairs, an extraordinary general meeting is expected to be called to decide on MCA's disputed membership list.
A senior party leader close to Team B said delegates would be mobilised to request for an EGM in a week or two so that the meeting could be held before the divisional elections begin at the end of next month.
"The talk of an EGM has been going on for some time and it is by far the most logical thing to do to settle the controversy over the membership list," he told malaysiakini .
The proposed top agenda at the EGM, if there be any, would be to determine whether an independent committee should be set up to verify the list, added the MCA leader who wished to remain anonymous.
Asked how the outcome of the EGM would impact the branch elections which start tomorrow, he replied, "If the delegates want an independent verification and the results show any discrepancies in the membership list, then all elections which had been held at whatever level would be invalid."
Early this week, party secretary-general and Team A affiliate Dr Ting Chew Peh said the list was cleaned up with the help of Deputy Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi and the National Registration Department.
However, party deputy president and Team B leader Lim Ah Lek refuted the claim, saying he was absolutely confident that the list, particularly that of the 138,000 new members recruited within the past year, was tainted and unclean.
Separate meetings
In recent weeks, both Team A and Team B have held separate meetings with Mahathir and Abdullah regarding the list.
Mahathir was quoted today as saying that the internal affairs of political parties are subject to the jurisdiction of the parties themselves and cannot be judged by the courts or the government
According to the MCA constitution, an EGM may be held at any time if a requisition is made in writing by at least one-third of some 2,400 existing central delegates.
The party secretary-general is required to issue a notice to all delegates to the EGM within five days upon receiving the requisition. The EGM must subsequently be held within 30 days from the date of requisition.
In June last year, MCA held an EGM to vote on the party's acquisition of Nanyang Press Holdings, publisher of two Chinese newspapers. Fifty-three percent of the delegates present had voted for the deal while another 47 percent were against it.
The divisive acquisition saw MCA split into two camps, better known as Team A and Team B. The first, which favoured the deal, is led by party president Dr Lin Liong Sik while Team B is helmed by deputy president Lim.
Meanwhile, another party source told malaysiankini Team B leaders would not make any move regarding the EGM until this Sunday's Ketari state by-election in Pahang is over.
"They need to do a lot of ground work if they want to win the delegates over. After all, unlike the other faction, Team B is not getting as much press coverage as before," said the source who declined to be named.
MCA annual general assembly is scheduled for June 29, where central leaders will be elected by delegates for a three-year term.
Observers noted that it was likely that a Team B-linked party leader would contest for the president post.
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