There is a possibility that the March 30 party elections in the embattled MCA may see potential candidates agreeing to a negotiated settlement.

Should that be the case, all key posts in the party will be carved out by the squabbling factions without the need for a bitter contest.

Prime Minister Najib Razak has hinted about this possibility when he urged MCA to solve its problems as soon as possible today.

"I want a solution. It doesn't really matter whether through elections or an understanding as long as the MCA emerges a credible force to represent principally the Chinese community and Malaysians as a whole," was quoted as saying by Bernama .

MCA leaders are currently huddled with their supporters to explore their options.

With the party split into three or even more factions, no one group can boast majority support among the 2,380 central delegates tasked to select the new leadership.

In the next 11 days leading up to nomination day on March 22, the various factional chieftains are holding clandestine meetings to broker a deal that could produce a breakthrough in the leadership impasse which has afflicted the party for two years.

NONE According to political observers, party president Ong Tee Keat, who has yet to confirm whether he would be re-contesting his post, is likely to join forces with former nemesis, vice-president Liow Tiong Lai.

This is ironic as Liow was seen to be in cahoots with deputy president Dr Chua Soi Lek only last week when their two factions collectively quit to force fresh party elections.

Fourth faction

Adding into the conundrum is a fourth faction - the one led by former secretary-general Ong Ka Chuan and his younger brother, Ong Ka Ting, the former party chief.

ong ka ting ka chuan mca brothers 080408 The Ong brothers are likely to swing their support behind Tee Keat as they don’t see eye-to-eye with Chua.

Chua had blamed the duo for engineering his political demise by releasing the sex DVD involving him and a woman at a hotel.

Complicating the situation further is Youth chief Wee Ka Siong - considered a Liow loyalist but is increasingly seen with Chua.

Wee command sizable support within his Youth wing, which command about one-third of the central delegates.

Given such a situation, it is not surprising that Najib would prefer a negotiated settlement instead of an all-out election. But then again, MCA’s last peace deal between Tee Keat and Chua, forged only a few months ago, now lies in tatters.

Best possible solution

The best possible solution is for Ong to step down while Chua and Liow take the top two posts with Ka Chuan returning as secretary-general in what is dubbed as the ‘Chua-Liow-Ong brothers’ peace formula.

As a carrot for Tee Keat to give way, it is said that Chua and Liow would allow the former party chief to keep his minister’s post.

It is claimed that the Chua-Liow-Ong brothers combination would control about 75 percent of the central delegates.

chua soi lek sex tape scandal 020108 dvd At the same time, Chua, who is battered by his sex DVD image, is said to have promised Liow that he would forego a cabinet post and focus instead on reuniting the party and lead MCA to regain its former glory at the next general elections.

Under this deal, Chua will eventually pave way for Liow to take over in the next party polls, expected to be in 2011.

So will there be a free-for-all election to end the leadership deadlock in MCA or will there be another peace deal?

As they say, anything is possible in politics.