updated version MCA Team B leaders today defied the party secretary-generals decision not to call for an extraordinary general meeting and issued their own notice to call for one anyway.

In the notice, the three requisitionists  central committee member Tang See Hang, Youth assistant secretary-general Liow Tiong Lai, and Perak state assemblyman Lee Chee Leong  said the EGM would be convened on April 21 at the Putra World Trade Centre, the headquarters of Umno.

Party meetings are usually held at its headquarters in Wisma MCA, Kuala Lumpur. According to the schedule of ongoing party polls, the divisional elections where central delegates are chosen will be held on April 28.

At a press conference held in a hotel, Liow lashed out at party secretary-general Dr Ting Chew Peh for denying the delegates of their rights to call for an EGM.

Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.

The forebears of the party have anticipated such an arrogant and dictatorial conduct of future leaders and have provided in Article 31 in MCA constitution that the requisitionists may convene an EGM if the secretary-general dares to deny the general assembly to meet, he said.

According to Liow, the said article allows the requisitionists to issue notice to all delegates to the meeting should the party secretary-general not issue a notice for an EGM for any reason whatsoever within five days after receiving a requisition.

Committee check

Team B is seeking the EGM to discuss the setting up of a nine-member verification and elections committee headed by former deputy president Lee Kim Sai to verify the controversial list of 135,000 new members recruited late last year.

Team B leaders had submitted their requisition for the EGM last Friday by providing signatures of 810 delegates which meets the constitutional requirement of at least one-third of the 2,384 party delegates that were needed to call for an EGM.

In response to the requisition, Ting yesterday announced the EGM would not be convened as 49 out of the 810 delegates who had originally backed the EGM have pulled out from the petition.

The party secretary-general also said the resolutions that were to be tabled at the proposed EGM also have the effect of amending the party constitution and therefore must be approved by the central committee or at divisional assembly beforehand.

Countering this argument, Liow today said Ting has missed the point and continues to miss the point.

He cannot decide whether a proposed resolution is valid or not. The issue is whether he would call for the EGM as he is obliged to do so under the party constitution, he said.

Withdrawal no effect

When asked, he said the withdrawal of the 49 delegates as claimed by Ting did not matter because there were indeed one-third of the delegates at the time the requisition was made.

Furthermore, he added, despite their request for the 49 names, party headquarters administrative director Wong See Wah has refused to release the information by citing confidentiality.

Liow also said Article 165 which stipulates that the notice of an EGM must be served at least 21 days before its actual date only applied to that called by the assembly speaker, and not the requisitionists.

Meanwhile, central committee member Tang See Hang urged all party delegates with conscience and integrity to attend the April 21 EGM in order to resolve the controversy surrounding the membership list once and for all.

MCA witnessed an open split among its leaders and members into two feuding factions  Team A and Team B  last May following the partys acquisition of Nanyang Press Holdings, the publisher of two major Chinese dailies.

The last EGM was held on June 24 last year to vote on the controversial takeover of Nanyang Press Holdings. Of the delegates who were present, 48 percent opposed and 52 percent endorsed the deal.