Some 2,400 delegates of MCA are in a dilemma following conflicting statements by the two feuding factions, Team A and Team B, regarding the status of the forthcoming extraordinary general meeting.

Team B leader and deputy president Lim Ah Lek said the EGM which they have fixed for April 21 is constitutional and legal as it was requisitioned by 810 delegates, slightly more than one-third of total delegates.

I urge all delegates, regardless of their stand on the proposed resolutions, who love the party, who want to re-establish democracy in the party and who wish to have a clean membership list, to attend this historically important and critical EGM, he told a press conference in Kuala Lumpur this afternoon.

The EGM, he added, will settle once and for all the two issues confronted by the party  the undemocratic and unconstitutional suppression of MCA Youth and the irregularities and fraudulent practices in the recruitment of 138,000 new members late last year.

Shortly after this, party secretary-general Dr Ting Chew Peh at another press conference urged the delegates not to attend what he described as unlawful gathering, saying that the EGM had violated the party constitution.

The party headquarters will not acknowledge the EGM and will not be responsible for any outcome of the meeting, including the decisions it makes, said the leader who is aligned to Team A.

Ting had on Tuesday ruled that the EGM could not be convened as 49 out of the 810 delegates who initially signed the petition had later on withdrawn from it, making the total number less than one-third of the delegates as required under the party constitution.

He also said the resolutions proposed to be tabled at the EGM had the effect of amending the party constitution and therefore should have been approved at central committee level or at any divisional assembly beforehand.

Notice for EGM issued

However, the requisitionists from Team B yesterday decided to proceed with the meeting and had issued a notice for an EGM to be held on April 21 at Putra World Trade Centre to vote on six resolutions.

The resolutions seek to set up an independent committee headed by former deputy president Lee Kim Sai to verify the controversial membership list as well as to revoke the suspension of the Youth wing since late December.

Lim today said he was confident that the quorum of the EGM  one-third of the delegates  will be fulfilled.

The general assembly (comprising the delegates) is the highest authority of the party with extensive powers...The president should also attend the EGM to face the delegates, he said.

He also said the delegates will vote on the resolutions by secret balloting, adding that Team B will accept whatever decision made at the meeting and that Team A should also do the same.

Asked about the significance of holding the EGM at PWTC, the Umno headquarters, he replied, It is a neutral ground.

To another question on whether the 13 files which Team B earlier alleged to contain evidence of phantom members will be revealed at the EGM, Lim said, It will be done either at the EGM or before the EGM.

Collective interest of party

Meanwhile, party secretary-general Ting reiterated that his decision not to call for an EGM was made based on party constitution, facts and reasons.

The secretary-general has the responsibility to take care of the collective interest of over one million party members and the image of MCA, he said.

Though the general assembly is the highest authority of the party, he said it cannot simply do whatever it liked, such as overruling the constitutional requirement for the approval of the central committee or any divisional assembly before resolutions that may amend the party constitution are tabled.

The party constitution should not be taken out of context, he said.

Ting added that since he announced his decision on Tuesday, the party headquarters had received more applications from delegates who wished to back down from the petition for an EGM and there were now some 50 to 60 withdrawals.

He said details of the 49 withdrawn signatures were confidential but the party was willing to verify the information through a third party, such as an auditing firm.