MCA vice-president Liow Tiong Lai today declined to confirm or deny his alleged secret meeting with fellow vice-president Kong Cho Ha.

NONE Rumours have been swirling that Liow had made a pact with Kong that should Ong Tee Keat resign, he would take up the mantle as MCA president while Kong would be his deputy.

Liow also thrice side-stepped a question as to whether the MCA president should step down after the no-confidence vote passed against him at last Saturday's extraordinary general meeting (EGM).

Party sources confirmed that Liow had dinner with Kong together with other leaders on Sunday night.

It appears now that Liow, once a strong ally of Ong, is keeping his distance from his boss.

He however urged party members to stop speculating and be patient.

Liow was also asked about calls by former deputy president Dr Chua Soi Lek and former vice-president Fong Chan Onn for the entire central committee to resign and pave way for fresh polls.

All he offered in response was: "The central committee will convene and decide on the matter."

On whether Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak has talked to him regarding the problems in MCA, he said: "No. The PM has not asked about the situation in MCA but he would like to see a stronger party."

He also said that Najib has full confidence in MCA to resolve the conflict on its own.

"The party will remain intact and united in overcoming this ordeal," said Liow.

Leadership vacuum

MCA is now left with a leadership void after both Ong and his rival Chua, who was bidding to be reinstated as deputy president, were spurned by the delegates at the EGM .

Ong, who is transport minister, suffered a loss of confidence in his stewardship by a narrow 14-vote margin, when he polled 1,155 to 1,141 votes.

The EGM reinstated Chua as a member but rejected a resolution to return him to the Number Two post.

NONE Chua was sacked by the party's presidential council in August for tarnishing the party's image over his sex video scandal but the central committee overturned the punishment and replaced it with a four-year suspension.

Following the EGM, former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad called for the resignation of Ong and Chua, stressing that the party must choose a neutral candidate to regain the confidence of the grassroots and strengthen the party.

Mahathir had also urged Najib to intervene 'behind the scenes' to resolve the MCA crisis.

The MCA's central committee meeting will be held on Thursday to decide the next course of action.

It is rumoured that Ong will submit his resignation during the meeting, fanning speculation that fresh polls will be held soon.

On an unrelated development, Liow said the government has spent RM14 million for 400,000 doses of H1N1 vaccine that is scheduled to be made available at the end of this month.

As at today, 666 patients have been warded for influenza-like illness, but 146 have been discharged. There were 152 new admissions, 27 of whom have tested positive for H1N1.

Liow celebrated his 48th birthday this morning with officials and staff of GlaxoSmithKline after launching GlaxoSmithKline's global IT centre in Petaling Jaya.