The MCA central committee meeting which is expected to discuss the resignation of party president Dr Ling Liong Sik and his nemesis-cum-deputy Lim Ah Lek started at noon today.

The meeting is also expected to chart out the leadership succession plan that many expect will see Ling's protege o­ng Ka Ting taking over the leadership. Lim's staunch supporter Chan Kong Choy is expected to be the new number two. Both o­ng and Chan are o­ne of the four key vice presidents.

Ling, who arrived at the MCA headquarters in Jalan Ampang at about 11.30am was greeted by about 50 people, who carried banners and placards to show their support for the transport minister.

Since Monday, many grassroots leaders have met Ling with the intentions to convince him to change his mind.

While rumours about his quit letter have been afloat since early this week, Ling o­nly confirmed yesterday that he had indeed submitted a letter to party secretary general Ting Chew Peh.

Meanwhile Lim is said to have also submitted his resignation letter o­n the same day.

When met outside the meeting hall, Lim said that the party's internal crisis "will be over" today.

This is seen as a follow up to a peace plan brokered by Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad last April.

The second largest party of the ruling Barisan Nasional coalition has openly split into two factions - with Team A headed by Ling and Team B by Lim - since the controversial acquisition of two major Chinese newspapers two years ago.

Ting's quit letter

Meanwhile, according to party sources, Ting, aligned to Ling, too had submitted his resignation letter to Ling o­n Monday, citing that he wanted to give way to younger leaders.

Another vice president Chua Jui Ming, a major player in Team B, arrived early morning today straight from Geneva, Switzerland, in time for the CC meeting, after cutting short a World Health Assembly there. He was originally scheduled to return late this afternoon, thus giving a miss to the meeting.

He was greeted by about 300 of his supporters at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport and was reported to have gone straight to meet Mahathir at Putrajaya.

Some political analyst believe that Chua will have a major role to play in the new party line-up, although it's unknown in what capacity.

Answers to all these questions may be known after the CC meeting today.