The latest episode of MCA president Dr Ling Liong Sik wanting to resign from his cabinet post suggests that his relationship with Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad was more intricate than what the rank-and-file of both Umno and MCA had imagined.

Any decent Malaysian who had read, and believed, newspapers controlled by Umno and MCA over the past several months would, by now, be divided into two camps o­n the matter.

Umno supporters and sympathisers in particular think that their leader, Mahathir, was slowly building up pressure o­n Ling to go, in view of MCA's 'obstinacy' over the language-switch issue and the party's Penang state assembly members who breached the ruling coalition discipline.

The cue came o­n Tuesday when Ling himself announced after a Barisan Nasional supreme council meeting that he had submitted a resignation letter to Mahathir last August.

The following day, Utusan Malaysia and Berita Harian reported o­n their front-pages that 'Ling letak jawatan' (Ling resigns) without taking into consideration why Ling remains in his transport minister's post despite 'having resigned' months before.

The Star , Nanyang Siang Pau and China Press however had a different take o­n the issue. They reported that Ling had wanted to resign but the offer was yet to be accepted by Mahathir.

There were also accompanied reports which gave the spin that Ling was a magnanimous leader who did not want to cling o­n to power and that Ling's staunch critic, MCA deputy president Lim Ah Lek, had embarrassed the party in the eyes of BN coalition members. Two days before the BN meeting, Lim had said he would contest for the party presidency if Ling were still around by 2005.

Many MCA supporters and sympathisers could be led to believe that Mahathir still favours Ling as the party helmsman.

'My prerogative'

This may well be the case. After all, Mahathir said yesterday that "I received his (Ling's) letter a long time ago but I've not yet agreed to his resignation." The New Straits Times quoted the premier as saying that "it's my prerogative, so there is no such thing as undermining the cabinet".

However, contrary to the belief of Umno and MCA hardliners, Mahathir's treatment of Ling hinges o­n realistic calculations of each other's gains and losses.

Though it is unclear if Mahathir, who is to step down in October, will lead the ruling coalition into the next general election which many believe will be held way ahead of the November 2004 deadline there is little question that the premier wants a glorious exit marked by an overwhelming, not just a simple BN, victory.

Much of the Mahathir legacy was eroded when Umno's parliamentary seats fell from 88 to 71 and state seats from 231 to 175 in the 1999 national poll, while BN's share of popular vote dropped from 65 to 56 percent.

Some Umno leaders may think their party has regained strength since then and will depend less o­n MCA as evident in party vice-president Muhammad Muhd Taib's recent statement

that BN expects the return of Malays to the Umno fold to make up for the loss of Chinese vote but Mahathir will still want to have both the votes.

Being a pragmatist, Mahathir is also well aware that Ling's close connection to the core of the Chinese community the clans and associations, vernacular schools, newspapers, and most importantly, business tycoons cannot be easily dismissed despite the MCA leader's weakened position as a result of the split within his party.

Financial backing

In fact, Mahathir himself had relied much o­n Chinese businesses to realise his Vision 2020 of developing Malaysia into an industrialised country.

Though less documented, it is believed that the Chinese businessmen who are close to both Mahathir and Ling have also contributed substantial financial resources to BN at least during campaign period.

That Ling's grassroots support has also improved since late last year could not have escaped Mahathir's notice. Ling's stand to reject the language-switch in Chinese primary schools as well as to 'defy' Umno's call to sack MCA's two errant state assembly members had, to a certain extent, boosted his image as the 'defender of Chinese interests' in the eyes of the community.

Party rival Lim Ah Lek's statement two days before Tuesday's BN supreme council meeting indicated that the factional fight within MCA may revive soon. This, together with the Gerakan-MCA bickering over the sacking of the two state assembly members, could wreck Mahathir's plan for the coming general election.

Seen in this light, Mahathir's disclosure about Ling's resignation letter at the meeting was to reverse the offensive measures taken by BN leaders against the MCA chief.

The disclosure was expected to pacify the anti-Ling elements within Umno by assuring them in vague terms that Ling would eventually go. This will slow down, if not cease, the open and behind-the-scene lobbying for Ling to be removed since 'his resignation letter is already in our hands'.

Moreover, the disclosure will also keep Ling in check and to remind him about the practical purpose he serves by staying in his post.

Ling, a military college graduate who was trained in battle strategy, made a calculated move when he met the press after the BN meeting. His disclosure about his quit letter was to reduce the bullets of the anti-Ling faction led by his deputy, Lim.

Ling will now be immune to any call from Lim's camp for him to step down at least in the next few months as the party president can argue that he was ready to leave but the prime minister would not let him do that.

His move may even soften the opposition from some in the Chinese community to his leadership as Malaysians are generally known to be sympathetic and forgiving when dealing with an 'outgoing' leader.

Abdullah 'left out'

While Mahathir and Ling may have gained advantage out of the situation for now, o­ne main repercussion may arise from this resignation episode.

Many Umno leaders and supporters would be 'silently' disappointed with Mahathir's hesitation to remove Ling. Already, many of them questioned Mahathir's resoluteness in dealing with the two MCA state assembly members who had not voted to support BN's stand o­n a controversial highway project in Penang last November.

Mahathir had said earlier that Umno wanted the two state assembly members sacked but had o­n Tuesday described the indefinite suspension of the duo from MCA as "sufficient".

This seemingly 'lenient' penalty could cause Gerakan grassroots to make difficult their cooperation with MCA in the coming polls.

Mahathir's deputy Abdullah Ahmad Badawi and his supporters may very well feel alienated too as they would prefer a new line-up of BN leaders, starting with Ling's removal, when the prime-minister-in-waiting assumes office later this year.

Abdullah, personally, may also feel 'left out' in this decision to retain Ling as it was clearly more of an unspoken understanding between Mahathir and Ling which worked towards their own advantage rather than Abdullah's.

All said, while Ling may step down from his cabinet and party posts before his MCA presidency expires by August 2005, he may stay just a bit longer than what his critics and detractors had hoped.

The actual date for his resignation lies with Mahathir's game plan for, and involvement in, the next general election.