MCA deputy chief Lim Ah Lek has challenged his boss Dr Ling Liong Sik to tell the truth and refute the allegation that it was Lim who had pressured the president to step down by next year.

"As the party president, he must explain. It is not about the succession talks but about who is telling the truth," Lim said.

The succession talks, which started at the end of last year but were aborted recently, had sought to resolve the party's future leadership amicably ahead of the party polls next year.

Lim told malaysiakini that since all those involved in the succession talks have had their say except Ling, it is now Ling's turn to clarify the matter.

Two weeks ago, MCA deputy secretary-general Dr Sak Cheng Lum and treasurer William Chek, the mediators of the talks, claimed in their joint statement that Lim wanted the party president's resignation date to be stated in the agreement.

Last Friday, Lim rebutted them in a statement and denied that he had pressured the president to resign.

In his rejoinder, Lim claimed that during the first of the succession talks, Ling had expressed his intention to resign. He said he was informed by Ling that he would not serve beyond 2002.

As such, Lim explained, he was only asking the president to put in the agreement the resignation date. On top of that, Lim said, the inclusion was suggested by Ling himself.

Yesterday, Wong Mook Leong, the senior party member implicated in the joint statement of the mediators, has also defended himself in an open letter to Chek, and backed Lim's version of the events ([#1] Senior MCA member refutes allegations [/#], April 17).

Credibility affected

Lim lambasted those who have accused him of pressuring Ling to resign as "malicious", claiming that they had a personal agenda.

"I was accused (of pushing Ling to quit), but the talks is only known by four of us (Chek, Sak, Lim and Ling). So how did the Batu Pahat branch leaders know what happened in the succession talks?" Lim questioned.

He was referring to the brouhaha raised by Batu Pahat branch leaders during an MCA meeting there a few months ago, on the audacity of the party deputy to (purportedly) pressure the president to quit.

"As the Johor liaison committee chairman and president, Ling should defend me and explain the issue to the people," Lim lamented.

He added that the allegation has affected his credibility, forcing him to defend himself in the open.

"The truth must be out. Ling must explain," he said, adding that Ling's persistent silence on the matter has affected the image and the unity of the party.

Asked whether the dispute will lead to a clear fight in the party polls due next year, Lim said that there is still more than a year before the election.

"More important now is how to solve the Chinese community's problems, not the contest for posts," he said.

He added that MCA is facing many internal problems, which has made it unable to handle issues relating to the Chinese community.

"We should put social interests beyond personal interests," he stressed.

Ask the president

To the comment that MCA seemed to be more interested in getting cabinet posts and higher posts within the party, he blamed the president for such a sorry state of affairs within the party.

"You have to ask the president. The problems are not created by me," Lim said. "Why did he drag on the issue and dumped the problems on me?"

Lim, who has expressed his intention to resign time and again from the deputy leader post, is seeking for a guarantee that his protege, vice-president Chan Kong Choy, be appointed in his place.

However, this will put Chan within striking distance for the top leadership should Ling step down next year, a prospect that is unwelcome by Ling's men, especially his protege, Ong Ka Ting.

Ling, who has stated his intention to seek re-election as party president next year, has repeatedly refused to comment on the succession talks controversy.