Chua Soi Lek's party elections campaign is off to a stellar start in his home state of Johor as the majority of delegates and several party heavyweights attended the two consecutive dinners he hosted.

NONE According to Chinese press reports, the first dinner held at Johor Bahru on March 8, saw deputy state chief and former vice president Tan Kok Hong in attendance as well as 70 percent of delegates from nine MCA divisions in the southern part of the state.

The second dinner held at Yong Peng last night was more significant as youth chief Wee Ka Siong, previously with Liow Tiong Lai's faction, chaired the dinner. His presence sparked rumours that he had abandoned Liow and defected to Chua's camp.

Kong and Ng teammates?

Beside Wee, other heavyweights who attended the dinner included two former vice-presidents Kong Cho Ha and Ng Yen Yen ( below ), both of whom followed Chua's lead in resigning to make way for fresh MCA party polls.

ng yen yen jean todt 26062009 02 Interestingly, Eng Cheng Guan, the Simpang Renggam division chief who filed a complaint over Chua's sex DVD scandal and triggered the former's expulsion and later suspension, also attended the dinner with 200 delegates from north and central part Johor.

When asked by reporters about Kong and Ng's presence, Chua denied that the duo are his ‘teammates' for the party election, which falls on March 28.

"They are ministers and just happened to pass by so I invited them to attend," he explained.

"Ong cannot trust others"

Meanwhile, according to the reports, Chua also made fierce attacks on embattled party president Ong Tee Keat at the dinners, which were a closed door events.

In Johor Bahru, Chua alleged Ong "cannot trust others" and only assigned important tasks to his own people, although both of them had reached an amicable agreement under the Greater Unity Plan to bury the hatchet after both were booted out in the crucial EGM last October.

He also criticised Ong ( below ) for failing to meet with the Johor menteri besar during his tenure as the state chief and not contributing to the state.

mca anniversary dinner ong tee keat speech Chua took over the state chief post from Ong after the Registrar of Societies affirmed his position as the deputy president was unaffected by the EGM's voting result.

While in Yong Peng, Chua criticised Ong's failure in stabilising the party and his questionable actions, including eliminating the heads of two wings from the party presidential council, even after all the warring factions in MCA decided to abide by the Greater Unity Plan.

Soi Lek will be touring the nation to meet with the party central delegates who will in turn cast their votes in the March 28 party polls. Nomination is on 22 March and a fierce fight between Chua and Ong looks inevitable.