ANALYSIS An attempt to force MCA to hold an extraordinary general meeting (EGM) is likely to pose several legal problems for the party which may lead to possible de-registration by the Registrar of Societies (ROS).

Led by deputy president Liow Tiong Lai, 14 central committee members signed a petition for the EGM yesterday.

Their aim is to pass a resolution to reverse the party's decision to lift the suspension of Tee Siew Kiong's membership.

NONE MCA's disciplinary committee had recommended that Tee ( left ) be suspended for disobeying the party's annual general meeting (AGM) resolution in 2010 barring members from holding government positions, should the party fail to improve their standing in the 13th general election.

However, Tee's three-year suspension was overturned by the party's central committee last Thursday.

The number of signatures sought by Liow's faction was the minimum needed to fulfil the constitutional requirement to convene the meeting.

The party leadership is now bound by the constitution to convene an EGM within 30 days of receipt of the petition by the secretary-general.

The secretary-general would then serve the approximately 2,400 central delegates a 21-day notice. The party constitution also allows the president to direct the secretary-general to issue notifications of an EGM in no less than seven days, if an urgent situation arises.

But who has the right to vote?

This constitutional requirement for serving the notice for EGM poses a unique problem for the party leadership as a new crop of central delegates are due to be elected in less than two weeks - on Sept 22.

If the notices were served to the present batch of delegates and the EGM was held after Sept 22, would they still be eligible to vote?

If the notices were served after Sept 22 to the new batch of delegates, what would be the legal standing of the petition signed by the 14 central committee members on Sept 10?

These issues are expected to be deliberated by the MCA presidential council meeting today.

NONE For the Liow faction, the ideal situation is for the EGM to be held before Sept 22. This is a tall order and a logistical nightmare because it means the party has just 11 days left to do this.

MCA vice-president Gan Ping Sieu ( left ), who has been neutral in the Chua-Liow tiff, told Malaysiakini that the conundrum over the timing of the EGM puts the party at risk of de-registration by the ROS.

"The leaders should interpret party's constitution clearly in deciding the EGM issue to avoid legal problems.

"We should consult the ROS. I am worried that we might end up like DAP, which face neverending legal problems," said Gan, who is also a lawyer.

Chua in a tight spot

For MCA legal bureau chief Tay Puay Chuan, the situation was best described as "difficult".

"We may not be able to hold EGM before the formation of new batch of the central delegates on Sept 22... We are in the midst of a party election and the new central delegates should vote in the EGM.

"But the problem is, we may not be able to send out EGM notices by that time," he told Malaysiakini .

NONE A member of Liow's camp, Lee Wei Kiat, who is among the 14 signatories, opined that Chua should call for an EGM immediately to allow the current batch of central delegates to vote on the resolution.

He explained that the current batch were the same batch that passed the 2010 resolution barring party members from accepting government positions.

"We hope Chua ( right ) can face this courageously, or else he can't justify himself," said Lee.

The conundrum has put Chua in a tight spot as the EGM resolution is widely seen as a vote of no confidence in his leadership.

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