MCA leaders Lim Ah Lek and Chua Jui Meng said that "it was already too late", when explaining their abstention at the Huaren Holdings trustees' meeting on Monday, which saw the endorsement of MCA's controversial takeover of two Chinese dailies.

In a joint statement today, the leaders, who are also among Huaren's four trustees, said: "What was there for us to approve when everything has already been signed, sealed and completed? It was a done deal."

Lim who is MCA deputy president and Chua, vice-president, had objected to the takeover since the outset claiming that it was against the wishes of the Chinese community.

They stressed that the trustees' meeting was "unnecessary and irrelevant" since the cart has been put before the horse.

Huaren Holdings recently acquired Nanyang Press Holdings, publisher of dailies Nanyang Siang Pau and China Press , from tycoon Quek Leng Chan for RM230 million in cash.

'Negative light'

In Monday's meeting, MCA president Dr Ling Liong Sik and secretary-general Dr Ting Chew Peh, the other two trustees, had voted for the deal.

Depsite Lim and Chua's abstention, the deal was endorsed since Ling said that his vote alone was sufficient due to his seniority among the shareholders. He had also reportedly voiced his disappointment with the pair.

Lim and Chua said that following the meeting, they had decided not to make any statements in order to safeguard the party's larger interest, but Ling's remarks have put them in a negative light hence they felt obliged to react.

They stressed that their approval was not sought before the transaction was completed because they were told then that Huaren's directors were qualified to make decisions without consulting the trustees.

"As such it was not our role to provide comfort or discomfort to any person The proper course of action was to abstain from voting," they said.

Slim majority

Previously, the pair had contested that the 100 percent loan obtained by Huaren for the deal had violated the party's constitution since the investment arm had signed off its shares in Star Publications, publisher of the leading English daily The Star , as bank collateral without seeking the approval of the central committee.

The Nanyang takeover has sparked a volley of protests from the Chinese community and organisations who fear that the editorial independence may be compromised following the purchase.

The deal had also widened the split within MCA where both camps, for and against, had gone on nationwide road shows to garner support.

Subsequently, Ling called for an extraordinary general meeting late last month which saw a slim majority (53 percent) of the delegates voting for the deal.