MCA president Dr Ling Liong Sik (photo) today confirmed that he had intended to go on a long leave starting tomorrow but had to postpone it due to a forthcoming fund-raising activity organised by the party.

He said this in reply to a question at a press conference after chairing a two-hour party central committee meeting at Wisma MCA, Kuala Lumpur.

"I am supposed to be on leave from tomorrow but now I cannot go anyway because I have to handle the fund-raising campaign," he said, referring to a show by an artistes troupe from China scheduled for Oct 24.

The event is part of the party's campaign to raise funds for its newly established Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman (Utar).

Ling, who is also the transport minister, however, refused to disclose when his leave will take place eventually.

Soh's court case

"I'm not taking any one of you (reporters). That's a secret. (The leave has been) postponed to about four years from now," he quipped, in an oblique defiance to speculation that he will be resigning soon following the blows dealt on the party since last year.

Ling's proposed leave has not escaped the attention of his opponents from Team B, a faction within the party led by MCA deputy president Lim Ah Lek who had strongly criticised Ling's leadership over the past year.

Yap Pian Hon, a prominent Team B figure and former MCA vice-president, said he felt that Ling's intended leave could be related to businessman Soh Chee Wen's court case which has been scheduled for Nov 18.

Soh (photo) has been charged by the Securities Commission in 1999 with two offences to defraud the now defunct stockbroking firm Omega Securities Sdn Bhd of over RM400 million. In April that year, he left the country.

He returned to face his charge five months ago. A former MCA central committee member and Ling loyalist, Soh had hinted that he had business dealings with Ling which could prove detrimental to the party president's position in the government.

'Nothing unusual'

Yap said he learnt that the party's central committee meeting today would have discussed Ling's decision to go on leave as someone would have to be appointed to run the party in his absence.

He said he was also told that the leave was for a month starting Oct 28.

"We do not dismiss the possibility that he could be scared about Soh's case and wanted to avoid it. But in any case, if the court summons him to testify at the hearing, he would still have to come back," said Yap when contacted.

Meanwhile, a close aide of Ling said there was nothing "unusual" about the party president going on leave.

"All ministers do that when it comes to the end of the year because of the school holidays," he said.