MCA leaders Ong Tee Keat and Dr Chua Soi Lek have been voted in as the party president and deputy president respectively at the party polls today after a closely-watched fight.

The official results announced at the MCA headquarters at 9.45pm confirmed that Tee Keat defeated his rival, former vice-president Chua Jui Meng through a 512-majority vote. Tee Keat garnered 1,429 votes while Jui Meng polled 917 votes.

Tee Keat has about 60 percent of the votes from the party delegates while Jui Meng picked up close to 39 percent.

This is the second time that Jui Meng was defeated in his bid for the party presidency after he lost to outgoing MCA chief Ong Ka Ting in the last party polls in 2005.

mca agm 181008 ong tee keat victory While Tee Keat’s victory was rather expected, the ‘underdog’ for the No 2 post, Dr Chua Soi Lek emerged as the surprise winner in the poll following a close fight where he won with a wafer-thin 114-vote majority, defeating three other candidates, including current secretary-general Ong Ka Chuan.

Soi Lek was forced to quit as health minister and party vice-president last year over a sex video scandal.

Ka Chuan, who is widely seen as Tee Keat’s running mate, polled the second highest votes among the four candidates, with 1,001 votes.

There is no immediate clear indication on the plan of the new party leadership under the Tee Keat-Soi Lek pair as the duo engaged in a war of words in the run-up to the party election.

The election results also showed what was claimed by party critics as the end to the ‘Ong dynasty’, with outgoing MCA chief Ong Ka Ting and elder brother Ka Chuan no longer in the main party leadership line-up.

The brothers have consistently denied they were intending to create an ‘Ong dynasty’.

For the four vice-president slots, Deputy Finance Minister Kong Cho Ha , outgoing Youth chief Liow Tiong Lai , outgoing Wanita chief Dr Ng Yen Yen and the party’s Johor deputy chief Tan Kok Hong have been voted in.

MCA poll - the vote count timeline

Below are the earlier ‘live’ reports brought by Malaysiakini from the MCA headquarters .

mca agm 181008 ong tee keat victory 9.45pm The official announcement confirms the new president as Ong Tee Keat (1,429 votes), defeating Chua Jui Meng (917 votes).

The new deputy president is Dr Chua Soi Lek (1,115 votes), defeating Ong Ka Chuan (1,001 votes), Donald Lim Siang Chai (209 votes) and Lee Hack Teik (10 votes).

The four new vice-presidents are Kong Cho Ha (1,798 votes), Liow Tiong Lai (1,725 votes), Dr Ng Yen Yen (1,659 votes) and Tan Kok Hong (1,329 votes).

The 25 newly-elected central committee members are - Lee Wei Kiat, Wong Foon Meng, Tan Chai Ho, Tan Cheng Liang, Dr Hou Kok Chung, Lee Chee Leong, Gan Ping Sieu, Yu Chok Tow, Wong Nai Chee, Lee Sing Chooi, Wee Jeck Seng, Gan Tian Loo, Dr Yeow Chai Thiam, Chong Itt Chew, Hoh Khai Mun, Ti Lian Ker, Liew Yuen Keong, Wong Mook Leong, Paul Kong Sing Chu, Edward Khoo Keong Hai, Teh Siew Kiong, Loh Seng Kok, Wong Siong Hwee, Dr Por Choo Chor and Loke Yuen Yow.

9.38pm Official announcement underway now.

9.30pm The vote count for the party president is closed. Unofficial results show Tee Keat has won the party president's post after defeating Jui Meng.

mca agm 181008 ng yen yen won with supporters.jpg 9.20pm: Yen Yen nods her head when asked to confirm whether she has been voted in but declines to confirm news that she garnered the highest number of votes among the four elected vice-presidents. She is the first woman in the party to contest for such a high post.

9.05pm As vote-counting for party president is mid-way, Jui Meng is trailing closely behind Tee Keat.

9pm: 'Save MCA campaign' spokesperson Theng Book has claimed victory in the campaign to oust the Ong brothers - outgoing MCA chief Ka Ting and deputy president candidate, Ka Chuan. He says: "This is necessary in order to re-brand and rejuvenate the party. They are responsible for causing defeat during the general election."

8.53pm:

Unofficial results show that the fourth spot for the vice-presidency has been won by Johor MCA deputy chief Tan Kok Hong after defeating Deputy Home Minister Chor Chee Heung.

8.38pm: The official counting for the No 1 post is now underway.

8.35pm: Vote count for deputy president post is over. Soi Lek, who was seen thanking his supporters, has emerged as winner for the No 2 post with a small majority. His supporters are cheering and celebrating his victory outside the counting hall.

7.50pm:

The unofficial result for the vice-president race is not clear as yet as it involves eight candidates for the four slots available. However, sources say that Liow Tiong Lai, Kong Cho Ha and Dr Ng Yen Yen have been voted in while the last slot is a fight between Johor MCA deputy chief Tan Kok Hong and Deputy Home Minister Chor Chee Heung.

7.45pm: Soi Lek, accompanied by his son, Labis MP Tee Yong, and a group of supporters enter the San Choon Hall to observe the counting proceedings. He appears to be in a jovial mood.

7.40pm: The counting of votes for the deputy president's post is underway but unofficial results show that Dr Chua Soi Lek is leading, closely followed by Ong Ka Chuan. It appears to be quite clear in early counting that two other candidates - Donald Lim and Lee Hack Teik - have lost the contest turning it into a two-horse race.

Polling went smoothly

Earlier, the counting of ballots for the hotly-contested MCA triennial party election began after a two-hour polling closed at about 3pm today.

The counting took place at the Lee San Choon Hall at the MCA headquarters in Jalan Ampang, Kuala Lumpur. The polling and counting went on smoothly with no untoward incident reported.

A high attendance of 99.04 percent, or 2,378 delegates, turned up to cast their votes today.

According to seasoned party observers, there appeared to be mixed signals from the delegates but the question on everyone’s lips now is whether there will be any major upset in the contest for top posts.

All eyes were focus on the tussle for the presidency which is a straight fight between former vice-president Chua Jui Meng and incumbent vice-president Ong Tee Keat.

Favourite Tee Keat was reported to having an edge over his rival although Jui Meng’s camp said they are confident to garner more than 40 percent votes based on the exit polls.

In his previous bid for the presidency in 2005, Jui Meng was defeated by the current president Ong Ka Ting. He garnered 37 percent of votes in that battle.

Tough task for new leadership

As for the four-cornered fight for the deputy presidency, the race was mostly between another former vice-president Dr Chua Soi Lek and secretary-general Ong Ka Chuan.

The two other candidates are incumbent vice-president Donald Lim and former Penang state assemblyperson Lee Hack Teik.

Ka Chuan, aligned to the mainstream faction of the party leadership, was initially seen to be leading the race but Soi Lek was said to have picked up steam in the final push for votes.

During the introduction of the candidates at noon, Soi Lek was given a louder applause as compared to the scattered response received by Ka Chuan, who is also the elder brother of Ka Ting.

For the vice-president's posts, eight candidates are vying for the four slots - incumbent vice-president Dr Fong Chan Onn, ex-vice-president Yap Pian Hon, outgoing MCA Youth chief Liow Tiong Lai, outgoing MCA Wanita chief Dr Ng Yen Yen, Deputy Home Minister Chor Chee Heung, Kuala Langat MCA division vice-chairperson Lim Teck Chong, Johor deputy chief Tan Kok Hong and Deputy Finance Minister Kong Cho Ha.

Liow and Kong were seen as front runners and the remaining two positions are narrowed down to three other candidates - Ng, Tan and Chor.

A total of 63 candidates, the biggest field in MCA's electoral history, are vying for the 25 slots in the powerful central committee, the party’s highest decision-making body.

Both incumbents, Ka Ting and his deputy Chan Kong Choy, are not defending their posts.

MCA is trying to regain the hearts and minds of the Chinese community following its humiliating defeat in the March general election.

At the national polls, the party only managed to win 46 state and parliamentary seats compared to the 106 it had secured at the 2004 polls.

The new batch of leaders will have a tough task in regaining the support of the community.