MCA deputy president Lim Ah Lek was dropped as the disciplinary committee chairperson today but party president Dr Ling Liong Sik maintained that there were no personal motives involved.

However Lim, who had been the disciplinary chief for six years, felt otherwise. He claimed the president failed to honour the peace plan accepted by the party's two feuding factions.

"He (Ling) is not interested in unity. The party must unite. I am concerned about the peace plan but the president is not doing that," said Lim after the party's two-hour central committee meeting.

However, the deputy president chose to remain tightlipped when asked whether this meant the peace plan had failed.

The peace plan was presented by Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad in April to end a year-long conflict in the party which saw MCA split into two camps Team A led by Ling and Team B by Lim.

After speaking to reporters briefly, Lim left the MCA headquarters in Kuala Lumpur where the meeting was held.

Detached people

At a press conference later, Ling said the decision to replace Lim with party veteran Kam Woon Wah was "not something personal and should not be taken as not supporting the outgoing (disciplinary) committee members".

The president explained that under the present circumstances, the central committee felt they want "people who are detached, not connected in any way with the past conflicts, and have no vested interests".

Changes were also made to the four members in the disciplinary committee. The new members are Dr Wee Khoon Hock, Wong Seng Chow, Chan Kit Chee, and Wang Choon Wing.

They replace the two Team B aligned members vice-president Chua Jui Meng and Youth chief Ong Tee Keat and the Team A aligned vice-president Fong Chan Onn and Wanita chief Dr Ng Yen Yen.

The five new appointees were also involved in an inquiry committee tasked to investigate the pandemonium which erupted at the MCA Youth annual meet last August.

The composition of the inquiry committee was subject to criticism as Team B supporters questioned its impartiality.

It subsequently found the Youth chief responsible for the fracas and suspended the wing's leadership indefinitely.

Overwhelming majority

Meanwhile, Ling said he was confident that the party veterans would be able to uphold discipline within MCA with their wisdom.

When asked, he said there was some objection to the changes but an overwhelming majority of the central committee members voted for a proposal to appoint the party veterans.

The president also denied that the peace plan meant that no changes can be made to the list of office-bearers altogether.

"Everybody accepts the peace plan but the plan is to bring stability and progress into the party. It is not just status quo.

"If status quo is for progress, then it's very good. But if it hinders progress and causes the party to be static and unprogressive, then it is not good," he said.

On Tuesday, Lim reminded the president to abide by the peace plan amid widespread speculation that he may not be re-appointed as the disciplinary committee chief — a post traditionally held by the deputy president.

However, Ling responded yesterday by saying that the decision was up to the central committee and not him.