Keadilan Youth today criticised acting Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi for handing over the names of two MCA leaders with alleged links to triad groups, to party president Dr Ling Liong Sik.

Supreme council member Liau Kok Fah said Abdullah should not have left the issue to be resolved through "internal channels".

He said this could amount to a conflict of interest between Ling and MCAYouth chief O­ng Tee Keat who had given the names to Abdullah last Friday.

Liau had led a delegation this morning to lodge a police report at the Dang Wangi station, to facilitate an external investigation into the alleged triad activities in MCA.

Last Wednesday, DAP Socialist Youth (Dapsy) led by its chief Nga Kor Ming also had lodged a police report in Ipoh demanding an investigation into o­ng's allegation. The case has been transferred to the Bukit Aman police headquarters.

A cover up?

Contacted today, Liau called o­n Abdullah ( photo ), as home minister, to lead an investigative team personally or to instruct high-ranking police officers to thoroughly probe the issue.

"(Otherwise), the issue may not be resolved fairly because we know Ling and o­ng belong to rival factions within MCA," he said.

"We want to know why the acting premier is not leading this investigation - is it because he is trying to cover up the alleged triad politics in MCA, or because the names submitted are not those of key party leaders?"

Ong ( photo ), who is also the deputy youth and sports minister, had submitted two names and relevant documents to the acting premier during last Friday's meeting between the two, to support his claims that party leaders had hired triad members to intimidate rivals within MCA.

It is believed that o­ng had resorted to this in order to relieve the pressure to which he had been subjected, especially from opponents in Team A and several Umno leaders. They had insisted that he reveal the names, following his shocking revelation o­n March 9

'Act immediately'

Liau said this marked the first time in the country's political history that a high-ranking politician had made such an allegation and backed it up by submitting the names of those alleged to be involved in triad activities.

"This should be given serious attention and action should be taken immediately. It is not just a internal problem for MCA or a case for o­nly its disciplinary committee. " he said.

"It concerns the whole country, comparable to past incidents during several by-elections, where claims were made regarding gangsterism and opposition supporters were beaten up."

Last Sunday, Abdullah said he had submitted all relevant information to Ling and that he had asked for the outcome of the investigation to be reported back to him. The acting premier also said he did not recognise the two names submitted by o­ng.

Asked if the names would be submitted to the police, Abdullah replied: "Not yet...we don't know if the allegation is true or not."

Ong has refused to divulge the contents of the documents, saying he had confidence in Abdullah to resolve the matter.

Information under wraps

Ling ( photo ) reportedly said after his meeting with Abdullah that they agreed the names should be kept confidential until the party had conducted a thorough investigation and is able to "settle the problem".

He said he would call up the two persons to assist in the investigation, which would focus o­n three areas - to determine if they are party members or triad members, and an examination of their background.

The MCA chief said if the two are members and are found to have links with triads, then they would be removed from the party.

MCA has split openly into two factions - Team A led by Ling and Team B by his deputy Lim Ah Lek - ever since the party purchased two Chinese newspapers in May 2001. o­ng is aligned to Team B.