The date for the MCA ‘unity’ extraordinary general meeting (EGM) which will decide the political future of party president Ong Tee Keat and his former deputy Chua Soi Lek has been set for Oct 10.

According to sources close to MCA, the party’s upcoming annual general meeting (AGM), which has been slated for Oct 11, may be put off as it falls on polling day for the Bagan Pinang by-election in Negeri Sembilan.

mca 60th anniversary chua soi lek and ong tee keat 030309 02 Yesterday, MCA secretary-general Wong Foon Meng announced that a deal was struck between the two opposing camps to hold only one EGM to trash out the on-going feud between the two rival politicians.

Speaking to reporters today at MCA headquarters before chairing the party’s secretariat committee meeting to decide on both the EGM as well as AGM, Wong said that he would make an announcement tomorrow.

In addition to announcing the date of the EGM, Wong is expected to divulge whether the party’s AGM will be postponed.

Central Committee to meet on Saturday

In a related matter, the party’s central committee will meet this Saturday.

All eyes are on the meeting as it has the power to confirm or overturn the presidential council’s controversial decision to sack Chua.

Late last month, MCA’s disciplinary committee recommended to the presidential council that Chua be expelled from the party for his involvement in a DVD sex scandal.

The council subsequently accepted the disciplinary body’s recommendation and unanimously endorsed Chua’s sacking citing that his involvement in the scandal had brought embarrassment to the party.

Now it is up to the powerful central committee to confirm or overturn the decision.

The central committee, which is the party’s highest decision-making body - has the power to nullify Chua’s sacking or to modify his punishment from a sacking to a suspension of his membership.

Chua has until tomorrow to appeal against his sacking, but even without his appeal, the central committee can act on its own to repeal his sacking.

CC may reverse Chua’s expulsion

The upcoming central committee meeting will be an acid test for Ong as he will now be going head to head with Chua and his supporters in the first of three upcoming meetings.

The three meetings - central committee, EGM and AGM - will see whether Ong really has the support of the delegates and members of the MCA that he claimed.

On the other hand, Ong may get the central committee to reverse the presidential council’s expulsion of Chua.

Instead, it could opt for a lesser sentence by imposing a three-year suspension on Chua’s membership.

While it may not pacify Chua as the suspension would mean that he would miss out on the next party election, the reversal is likely to erode sympathy for Chua among the MCA rank-and-file who considered his expulsion as being too harsh.