MCA boss: It's not too late, I can still accept Liow

MCA president Ong Tee Keat said he will still accept MCA vice-president Liow Tiong Lai under the ‘greater unity plan’ despite the latter's initial refusal to be part of the plan.

Ong said for the common good of the party, personal feelings should take a back seat and that he was willing to accept Liow under the plan.

"As I have said in the past, I will still accept him," he told Bernama in a interview.

Ong, who is also transport minister, said his relationship with Liow went a long way back especially when they were in the Youth wing and fought alongside each other during the infamous ‘Team A - Team B’ fight, following the party leadership's decision to take over Nanyang Press Holdings Berhad.

In fact, it was Liow who took over the youth wing when Ong decided to go for the party vice-presidency in 2005. Prior to that, Liow, who is also health minister, was MCA Youth secretary-general.

"I'd be lying if I told you that our relationship is not strained by the turn of events over the past four weeks.

"But as a politician and national leader, I try not to allow four weeks of developments get into the way of a good friendship that dates back decades ago. The same goes for other CC members," he said.

Ong said there was nothing personal between him and Liow and what has happened was just merely politics.

"In politics, we are bound to have differences, but we should not let them affect MCA's efforts to move forward and should not allow the GUP (greater unity plan) to be scuppered because of personal differences," he added.

Ong confirmed that he had offered an olive branch to Liow through some "common friends" and waited at his house on Monday night for the answer.

However, Liow was said to be "silent" on the matter.

Inclusive leadership

Asked if Liow and some CC members who went against him will still be given a role to play in the party after this, Ong's reply was that "one of the fundamental principles in the GUP is an inclusive leadership - which means no group will be left out and everyone will have a role to play".

"We need to leverage on each other's strengths if we want to come across as a formidable front when facing the next general election," he said.

During the 45-minute interview, Ong also pointed out the fact that Liow and CC members were elected to high posts showed that the delegates accorded a certain degree of recognition to these leaders' ability to play an active role in the party.

"I will not turn my back against the delegates, who have also voted for me as the MCA president. Let me be frank. I have had a pockmarked relationship with Dr Chua over the past one year.

"But today, for the sake of MCA unity, I have decided to put the party first. I have already entrusted him (Dr Chua) to look into how the recently-tabled budget can help alleviate the economic hardship of people and make Malaysians more competitive in an increasingly globalised world," he said.

No conditions in deal with Chua

Ong also said there was no term set when he and Chua agreed to the ‘greater unity plan’ and whether or not the newly reinstated deputy president or anyone else will be given any important posts will be decided later.

"But I want to stress that in any organisation, it is common for reshuffles to take place. If there is a need to further beef up in the party, I will not waste even one second dilly-dallying, especially if it is to gear up the party for the next general election," he said.

However, he said should the changes took place, it should not be perceived as a witch hunt.

"It is not going to be about which group gets what portion of the cake. It is not going to be about strengthening Ong Tee Keat's position in MCA. It is going to be about strengthening MCA's position to woo back public support," he said.

During the interview, Ong also took the opportunity to clarify that the appointment of three new CC members - Tan Chin Ming, Donald Lim and Chua Tee Yong was based on strategic reasons, not because they were Chua's supporters.

"There is no condition set for Dr Chua's son (Tee Yong) to be appointed a CC member. I made this three appointments based on the need to have representatives from three keys states, Johor, Selangor and Perak.

The three newly appointed CC members are from three states - Chua Tee Yong (Johor), Datuk Tan Chin Ming (Perak) and Datuk Donald Lim (Selangor).

The appointments were made after Ong removed four appointed CC members, namely Chor Chee Hueng, Chai Kim Seng, Yoo Wei How (national organising secretary) and Gan Hong Su (assistant national organising secretary).