MCA president Ong Tee Keat and his newly-appointed deputy Liow Tiong Lai have held meetings to sort out their differences, following the Central Committee (CC) meeting last Thursday.

According to party sources, several personalities were also present during the meetings which were held at a hotel under Liow's initiative.

"Yes, they have met at least twice, but I can't tell you the outcome (of the meetings). They are still discussing. If things progress well, then we can expect to see everything being wrapped up by this weekend," a source, who is privy to the meeting, told Bernama .

NONE When contacted however, Ong and Liow ( left ) neither refused to confirm nor deny the meetings but the source said the two leaders had yet to come to any agreement.

"What happened is that basically, Ong, in most of the time during the meetings, played the role of a listener. He has not indicated anything," said the source.

Some powerful CC members when contacted have also confirmed the talks between the two leaders.

"We heard that they are talking now and they have met several times. What the outcome is, I really don't know," a senior CC member told Bernama today.

Some party leaders were however, unhappy with the Ong-Liow talks as they (the talks) did not include other party personalities, such as Dr Chua Soi Lek and former party vice-president Fong Chan Onn.

Fong wants Chua to be included in the talks because the former MCA deputy president commanded half of the party support during the Oct 10 Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM).

"Obviously, the delegates have spoken and Chua still controls half of the support. If Ong-Liow continue to ignore this, more trouble will come.

"I appeal to both Ong and Liow, don't function like you control the whole party. I also appeal to CC members, any consensus that excludes Chua will not work. The shortest way is through a fresh election," he said.

No easy compromise

However, another CC member Chong Itt Chew, believed that the talks between Ong and Liow had not progressed much as the party president had taken action to remove the legal bureau chief Leong Tang Chong yesterday.

"I heard both of them have been meeting several times. I believe, if both of them can compromise, I don't think Leong would be removed from his position. Therefore, it is interesting to see the next move," he said.

NONE According to Chong, it was not easy for Ong and Liow to find a compromise because Liow was not keen for a fresh party election while Ong would prefer fresh party election to get endorsement from the delegates to continue as the party president.

"To me, to have fresh party election is the right move. When you lose the confidence, you need the endorsement from the party delegates. We, all this while, had no intention to remove Ong, as the party constitution has stated very clearly that you need a two-thirds majority from the delegates to do so," he said.

Some CC members who have signed a joint letter urging Ong to step down, prior to the CC meeting last Thursday, claim that they signed the letter "due to pressure" while some say that they were "tricked into signing it" when the name of the prime minister and Barisan Nasional chairperson was implicated.

"Actually, it is just a loose arrangement. Yes, I signed it because at that time, I was under the impression that the succession plan has been worked out," said a CC member who did not want to be identified.

However, according to party insiders, Leong's sacking as party legal bureau head was actually not significant, except for the purpose of "passing a very strong message to those against him that the party president is still very much in charge".

"They won't simply sack any appointed CC as this would create a lot of problems. If you analyse well, Leong is not significant. He is not even an appointed member of the CC. All this while, he has been the legal bureau chief since Dr Ling Liong Sik was party president.

"If you talk about the upcoming EGM, it also has not been finalised. Therefore, it is hard to believe that Leong's sacking has got something to do with the upcoming EGM," he said.

- Bernama