Umno president and Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad today said the ruling coalition had never recognised the existence of two rival factions within MCA, the second largest political party in the ruling coalition.

At a press conference after chairing the Umno supreme council meeting this afternoon, he fielded several questions o­n the MCA succession issue which has grabbed the headlines over the past few days.

'Mend relations'

Asked if he thought the change of leadership would help MCA, he replied: "I hope that this will mend relations between the two groups."

While seldom allowing himself to be provoked into commenting o­n the issue in depth, the premier said he does not plan to advise MCA over how it should handle its leadership issues, especially since the party "had not asked for it".

Tomorrow, MCA will convene to discuss exactly who will helm top two posts in the party because president Dr Ling Liong Sik and deputy president Lim Ah Lek have tendered their resignation letters.

On the question of Ling's post as transport minister, Mahathir said: "Ling had tendered his resignation from his cabinet position a long time ago, and that this is now a non-issue."

Since May 2001, MCA has split into two camps - Team A led by Ling and Team B by Lim - following the party's controversial takeover of two major Chinese newspapers.

Vice-president Chua Jui Meng, currently the most senior of the four key vice-presidents is expected to return from Geneva tomorrow morning for a meeting at noon.

The other vice-presidents are Dr Fong Chan o­nn, o­ng Ka Ting (both aligned to Team A) and Chan Kong Choy, who is Lim's protege.

Election preparations

Meanwhile, Mahathir called o­n all parties within Umno to prepare for a dry run for the general election, which must be held by November next year.

"Usually, we prepare ahead of time for the elections, especially since there is o­nly o­ne year left until the end of the era," he said.

He denied the existence of splinter groups within Umno, saying that term 'splinter' would have meant that Umno politicians had left the party to form another group.

"Rather, what is problematic for Umno are individuals who are unhappy with the decisions made by the party majority and try to affect that outcome by promoting their favourite candidates," he said.

Deputy premier Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, who was at the press conference, took the opportunity to assure that present policies would be continued o­nce he becomes prime minister this October.

He said these would remain consistent given that decisions are made with consensus from all cabinet members.