If you believe MCA chief Dr Ling Liong Sik at the press conference after the party's General Assembly on Saturday, his widely reported "rift" with deputy Lim Ah Lek is easily resolvable.

A mere five or six minutes - a quickee, Ling's words, spoken in jest maybe - would fix the differences. The impression he wants to convey is that the "rift" is a minor one, easily buttered over a breakfast meeting perhaps. But reality is that even a banquet would not please his adversary camp that easily.

Ling also said that there was also no need for any "package deal", as announced by Lim 24 hours earlier that the two leaders were seeking a formula to the party presidency succession.

This "seeming" contradiction received a quiet comment from Lim, sitting beside his chief, there was some "misunderstanding" by the press about the so-called "package deal" (" [#1]MCA leaders to work out 'succession deal'[/#] ", June 16).

But party observers came away clearly convinced that the battle lines between the two main camps in MCA are now clearly drawn.

Ling did his groundwork pretty well, with his men well positioned and briefed in advance to stave off any potential attacks by "opponents" who dared ask difficult questions.

Talk has it that the night before (Friday), leaders aligned with Ling had gone to the hotels where the delegates were staying to advise them not to raise questions about Ling's resignation issue and the purported links to family matters and fugitive tycoon Soh Chee Wen.

The Johor state congress on Thursday had sent strong signals that many delegates were not satisfied with Ling's actions since the May 22's announcement to resign from his Cabinet post.

Using his privilege as president to address the assembly a second time after the departure of special guest Umno president Dr Mahathir Mohamad, Ling went on the offensive, delivering for a second time, a body blow to vice-president Chan Kong Choy, who is also deputy finance minister.

Ling reiterated that his resignation was motivated by his wish to make way for Chan, the only of the four VPs without full ministerial post, so that he could be recommended to the prime minister to fill the transport minister's post Ling offered to vacate.

The apparent majority of the 1,500 delegates present applauded Ling's explanation, clapping their hands to show support, and gave him a standing ovation at the end. But remaining unconvinced were about 40 to 50 percent of attendees who either did not clap their hands or remained "cemented to their seats" at ovation time.

A veteran central committee member, Wong Mook Leong, took the bull by its horn by openly seeking clarification from the president for the "real reasons" pertaining to the resignation decision, waving some newspapers clippings to show proof that when Ling met with Mahathir, the prime minister later told the press the issue was not related to any minister's post ("[#2] Pary veteran 'boo-ed' for querying MCA chief[/#] ", June 17).

Wong claimed that Ling's explanation earlier did not tally with the news reports, in which Mahathir had intimated that Ling also was concerned about rumours on Ling's family matters.

Yet after two days of debate starting at the MCA Youth and Wanita assemblies on Friday, the president had not provided "convincing" answers to his resignation decision. At the General Assembly, Ling dismissed the rumours that the PM hand wanted him to resign because of his personal problems, also relating to fugitive tycoon Soh Chee Wen.

"These rumours are planned by somebody to destroy my image, but I will face these allegations with courage," Ling said ("[#3] Ling insists resignation was of 'good intention'[/#] ", June 17).

Brushing away rumours without proper explanation was not acceptable, at least in the eyes of Wong, who appears to be the standard-bearer to Lim's faction.

On the "package deal", it now seemed that a proposal initiated by Ling is made to look to have come from Lim instead, with the master tactician in Ling dealing another blow to his opponent. Lim's reticence in fighting back is too controlled to suggest he was caught unexpected.

A day earlier, Ling's stand to come was prefaced by a surprise disclosure after the MCA Youth Assembly by its vice-chairman, Loh Seng Kok, who said that the youth wing is against any "package deal" on the succession to the presidency issue ("[#4] Delegates say no leader is indispensable[/#] ", June 16).

"This is against the will of the grassroots and undermines the wisdom of the members," he said.

He stated that if the package which is being worked out by the top two leaders would not be accepted by the delegates.

Loh is political secretary to Ling. It appears that Loh must have relayed to Ling the feedback from the youth delegates for Ling to "reverse" his stand on the package, if indeed the idea came from him (" MCA leaders to work out 'succession deal' ", June 16).

The deal reportedly involves:

* Both Ling and Lim to retire from politics at the party assembly in 2002, leaving the top two posts vacant;

* Ling's protege vice-president Ong Ka Ting, now housing and local government minister, be promoted as MCA president, while Lim's candidate Chan be given the deputy president's post.

Many youth members under its chief Ong Tee Keat have at least got some bearings right. Now the test is if they dare take the fight all the way till 2002 to make sure "no deal" is good enough to replace open, democratic elections.

Ong also stressed the need for the party to reform its political culture and leadership to meet new expectations of the younger generation, quite a contrast to Ling's oft quoted focus on "harmonious family" concept to consolidate his position.

A delegate stated that the leadership were not willing to accept criticism readily from the membership at large, thus resulting in a crisis among the leaders.

It is relevant to note that Umno (the "big brudder" in the 14-member BN coalitioon) top leadership ensured the two top posts of presidency and deputy presidency were "uncontested" in the recent Umno party elections.

Will the MCA (more specifically, Ling via his central committee) take a leaf out of Mahathir's political artmanship and advise aspiring leaders to leave the presidency and deputy presidency uncontested come 2002?

Just a few days ago, Ling said in an interview with some Chinese press that if Lim resigns as deputy president, the party would find an appropriate way to fill the vacancy, most likely by holding an emergency general meeting.

Was Ling taking another pre-emptive strike against his opponent by pre-supposing that Lim was "reconsidering" stepping down as deputy chief, in the same way he manoeuvred Lim into a corner by stating that his resignation decision was to make way for Lim's protege, Chan?

Ling has won Round One after making Chan the "fall guy".Meanwhile, Lim is brainstorming with his stormtroopers led by key lieutenant Chan as they move their battle into Round Two.

At the assembly, malaysiakini reporters noted that Chan remained subdued and reserved throughout, merely observing the goings-on that seemed well orchestrated by all the president's men. Many delegates complained that the two-hour open debate was dominated by pre-selected members of parliament and state assemblymen. Even the applause to Ling's speech appeared stage-managed, coming constantly from particular sections of the hall.

The "Yes, Mr President" refrain constantly sung by MCA vice-presidents Ong Ka Ting and Fong Chan Onn has endeared them to Ling, but among the 800,000 members, how many share their view that a certain leader is "indispensable"?

The duo would feel very uncomfortable indeed as several members sarcastically chided the two leaders for their sycophantic mouthings.

An exceptional speaker was Tan Cheng Liang, the SA from Jawi, Penang. She said that there are many candidates who are "qualified and of calibre" to replace Ling as MCA president ("[#6] Many qualified candidates to replace Ling, says delegate[/#] ", June 17).

In chiding Fong in his infamous statement "that among 800,000 MCA members, not one is qualified to replace Ling", Tan said no leader is "indispensable".

However, if Ling decided to resign, he must offer a "proper explanation" and not just leave as he pleased, she added.

An interesting proposal by Tan is that a particular minister appointment be limited to two terms to enable other qualified MCA MPs to serve in the Cabinet.

Another delegate, Chai Kim Seng, from KL, said at the youth assembly the day before that "leaders come and go, but the party will always remain". He also proposed that the presidency be limited to three terms (nine years) which was well received by the delegates who clapped in approval.

Lim's inner circle of advisers are not happy with Ling's reiteration at the MCA assembly that his good intention of wishing to resign to make way for Chan was "misunderstood" (" Ling insists resignation was of 'good intention' ", June 17).

Wong, while being "boo-ed" off the stage when he tried to press for an answer to Ling's "inconsistent" explanation, said it was alright if delegates did not want him to continue to seek the truth.

"I have waited for an opportunity to bring this matter up, but the president did not call for any central committee meeting before the General Assembly," he added, walking off to more heckling but knowing that the objective of his question - raising doubts in the delegates mind that the full story has not been told - had been achieved.

The battle lines are now clearly drawn. Wong will definitely play a strategic role in Lim's camp as over the next two years the ground forces gear for battle leading to the party elections in 2002.