MCA Team Bs call for an extraordinary general meeting could be derailed tomorrow if more than 15 out of the 810 delegates who signed the requisition submitted last Friday opt for a withdrawal.

This possibility seemed likely as many of the delegates have been approached by the other faction Team A over the past few days, according to an informed party source.

It should not be surprising if tomorrow an announcement is made that only less than one-third of the delegates requisition for the meeting following the withdrawal of some, said the veteran leader who declined to be named.

Party secretary-general Dr Ting Chew Peh is expected to announce the decision regarding the EGM tomorrow afternoon before the deadline is due on Wednesday.

The source added the requisition for an EGM will then be reduced to an academic exercise on whether those delegates who backed the move for a meeting but later revoked their consent, should be counted.

However, he said that the party would not simply dismiss any of the 810 signatures as unauthentic because it will offend those who have signed the requisition.

Neither will it resort to constitutional justification for not calling for an EGM because there is none.

The only thing to do now is to say that some delegates choose not to proceed with the EGM and therefore the question of calling for one does not arise anymore, he explained.

Official requisition

Meanwhile, another Selangor state leader said Team B had already anticipated that the EGM will not be called.

They just wanted to highlight their allegation about phantom members and to show that they did have the backing of one-third of the delegates, he said on condition of anonymity.

Last Friday, three party leaders aligned to Team B led by deputy president Lim Ah Lek — central committee member Tang See Hang, Youth assistant secretary-general Liow Tiong Lai, and Perak state assemblyman Lee Chee Leong — handed in an official requisition for an EGM on behalf of 810 delegates.

Team B, having repeatedly claimed that the list of 138,000 new members recruited within the second half of last year was tainted, urged for the setting up of an independent committee to postpone the elections until the list is clean.

Counter move

Later on the same day, Team A leader and party chief Dr Ling Liong Sik said the grassroots have initiated a counter-EGM campaign and collected another 1,526 signatures from the other delegates who opposed the EGM.

Ling had dismissed his opposing factions effort to call for an EGM as a move against the wishes of the majority of the party members who want the party election to go on schedule.

The party reportedly has 2,384 delegates, making it 795 one-third of the total.

According to the party constitution, upon receiving a requisition for an EGM , party secretary-general will have to issue an notice to call for one within five days. The actual date for the EGM must be between the next 21 to 25 days.

It was reported on Sunday that MCA headquarters had already started verifying the signatures in the requisition for an EGM.