They claim to have acted on conscience by not voting against a DAP-led motion in the Penang state assembly to defer the RM1.02 billion Penang Outer Ring Road (Porr) project on Nov 21.

Tomorrow morning, MCA Penang state assembly representatives Lim Boo Chang (Datuk Keramat) and Tan Cheng Liang (Jawi) will have to make a case that convinces a disciplinary committee of this beyond doubt.

Predictably, neither will reveal the tactics they intend to employ. Both Lim and Tan, contacted by malaysiakini today, said they would only issue a statement after facing the inquiry panel at MCA headquarters in Kuala Lumpur tomorrow.

"It would be prejudicial to the hearing if I were to talk now. But I will use the opportunity to give the facts before the committee. Those present at the hearing will be privy to this," Lim said.

MCA Penang chairperson Wong Kam Hoong and state assembly member Dr Sak Cheng Lum (Bagan Jermal) will also give their statements at the hearing.

Sak was among the eight BN backbenchers who were absent at the time of the voting on the opposition motion. Of the eight, five were from MCA, two Umno, and one Gerakan.

After hearing the case, the disciplinary committee is expected to present its findings and recommendation to the presidential council, which will decide on what action to take.

'No specific order'

Signs indicate that the duo may cite the absence of prior instructions from the state Barisan Nasional in dealing with the motion.

When contacted, one of the MCA absentees Lim Gim Soon (Kampong Kolam) said Penang Chief Minister Dr Koh Tsu Koon had held a pre-council meeting for all BN state assembly representatives on Nov 9.

Although Koh had informed them about the opposition motion, Gim soon said there was no specific directive for everyone to be present and vote against it.

"We were (only) told that we could not support the motion because it would delay (implementation of) Porr," he said.

"Also, on the day of the voting, the speaker (Umno's Yahaya Abdul Hamid) did not ring the bell to summon those outside to enter the hall to vote on the motion, something which should have been done according to the procedure."

Gim Soon said "several BN state assembly representatives including Tan" had at the pre-council meeting raised questions on the highway project.

They had claimed that there was lack of transparency in awarding the tender for contracts and land titles, "but some questions were not answered fully by the Chief Minister".

Nobody expected the abstention by Lim and Tan to turn into a "big issue", said Gim Soon who claimed that he was being interviewed by reporters in the state assembly lobby at the time of voting. He had earlier told Chinese dailies that he had left the hall because the air-conditioning was too cold. ( see alibis in chart )

Tolerance needed

Another MCA absentee Lee Hack Teik (Pengkalan Kota) declined to comment on Gim Soon's account of the pre-council meeting. He said he had left the assembly about half an hour before the voting took place because he had to visit victims of a fire in his constituency.

When contacted, Sak also refused to talk about the pre-council meeting beyond saying: "It is not nice to make public the thing that I am supposed to tell the committee at the hearing. Maybe (I will let the press know) after that."

However, he added that "as with the previous discussions and meetings, we were presented with opportunities within BN to fulfill our responsibility and bring up people's views on issues and policies by the state government".

Sak said MCA-Gerakan relationship has to be maintained for the sake of BN unity and thus "a lot of tolerance" is necessary especially "at times of conflict".

Gerakan secretary-general Chia Kwang Chye expressed doubts about what the MCA hearing would achieve.

"They (MCA) are not focusing on the real issue at hand, that is the abstention of two MCA state assembly members. Instead, they wrote a letter to the Chief Minister (a Gerakan vice-president and state BN chairman) and asked him about the eight unaccounted votes.

"If they want to know about the eight votes, they can start with their own (five) state assembly representatives," Chia said.

He also cited a rumour that the MCA duo had abstained from voting under instructions by "some party leaders" and added that this allegation deserves "serious attention" from MCA.

Support for duo

As at 4.30pm today, a poll on the MCA official web site had 157 (or 90 percent) of 174 respondents saying that BN should not act against the duo. Another six agreed with action against the duo, whereas 11 thought 'BN should not be too harsh on them'.

Early this week, responding to BN secretary-general Mohamad Rahmat's statement that the ruling coalition can act against errant members of a component party, MCA president Dr Ling Liong Sik had said there was no such provision in the BN constitution.

Ling also stressed that MCA had "done the right thing" by referring the case to its disciplinary committee as such matters pertaining to individual members should only be dealt with by the party.

Mahathir, who was among BN leaders who had called for the two to be sacked, conceded yesterday that Ling was right, but said the coalition can expel any component party that does not honour the culture of consensus and co-operation within BN.