Umno vice-president Hishammuddin Hussein today expressed concern that the MCA leadership crisis will have a direct impact on the Barisan Nasional.

bagan pinang by election nomination 031009 hishammuddin hussein "I think what happened in the MCA will not have a direct impact on Umno, but my concern is if what happened in MCA will have an impact on the BN and that will have to be looked at by the MCA leaders," he said.

The MCA extraordinary general meeting on Saturday voted for two resolutions on no-confidence in party president Ong Tee Keat and annulment of Dr Chua Soi Lek's suspension but rejected the third resolution to reinstate Chua as deputy president.

Hishammuddin said what would happen to the MCA depended on the wisdom of its central committee which would be meeting on Thursday to discuss the outcome of the EGM.

On whether the MCA leadership crisis would be discussed at the Umno general assembly which will be held from tomorrow until Friday, he said they would not interfere in the affairs of other BN component parties.

MCA VP: Party running out of time

In a related development, MCA vice-president Liow Tiong Lai said the party is racing against time.

NONE "Time is running out for MCA. We have to strengthen the party again. The message is very clear. We must unite the party. The CC will discuss all the decisions of the EGM. It will make the best decision in the interests of the party and the Chinese community.

"The CC will elaborate, analyse and discuss the party direction. It is also important that the CC ensures unity of the whole party," he added.

Liow said all decisions by the CC should be unanimous and that, at this juncture, the most critical focus would be to stabilise, unite and strengthen the party.

He said that despite the "upsetting" result (of the EGM), the party could not afford to have any split or camps.

Liow said the party was not in a deadlock as its constitution had in place mechanisms to resolve any situation, and urged the people not to speculate on the outcome of the CC meeting.

Asked about the speculation that he was the most likely candidate to take over as party president should Ong resign and whether he was ready to take up the post, Liow said: "I, as the vice-president, have the responsibility to ensure that the party is united".

Another vice-president, Kong Cho Ha, had told a local newspaper that he was ready to accept the responsibility as the party president, if asked to. - Bernama

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