Don't bluff me, Soi Lek warns

MCA No 2 Dr Chua Soi Lek is predicting that he will not be given a minister’s post in the imminent cabinet reshuffle, despite his successful comeback to active politics in the party polls held last month.

“I don’t want my leaders to tell me that it is Prime Minister (Abdullah Ahmad Badawi) who doesn’t accept me, when they (MCA leaders) don’t even submitted my name,” he told Malaysiakini in an interview in Petaling Jaya today.

“From the way the Chinese media have reported it, I know they (party leaders) are going to use this (justification) so I want to pre-empt it.

“If I discover that they have not submitted my name to the PM and yet say it’s the PM or Umno who don’t accept me, then (they) are bluffing. If the MCA leadership can bluff even the deputy president, they can also bluff the Chinese community.”

Speculation is rife that Chua, 61, who had abruptly quit his government and party posts in January for being embroiled in a sex scandal, may not be given a cabinet post despite creating an upset of sorts by winning the deputy presidency.

He has not been given any key position in the new party line-up announced by MCA president Ong Tee Keat on Tuesday. This is seen as an indication that he is being sidelined.

Chua has not even been given a state liaison chairperson’s post, but has been assigned a minor post to lead the newly-formed government policy monitoring bureau.

The former Johor MCA state chief and Labis MP is unlikely to get a government post without a key party position other than deputy president.

Abdullah is expected to announce a minor cabinet reshuffle this month following the MCA election, which saw a minister and two deputy ministers from the party losing in the party polls.

By convention, Tee Keat - as head of the party - will recommend names to the prime minister as to who should fill the ministerial posts allocated to the MCA. However, he has thus far kept silent on his choice of candidates.

Chua stressed that the central delegates’ decision to vote him in is a sign that the grassroots want to see him to return to a government post as well.

Asked what he would do if he is not named a minister, he replied: “Let’s wait and see.”

Joining forces with Ka Chuan?

Tee Keat and Chua are being closely watched by party members as they had engaged in a war of words in the run-up to the party election, especially over the issue of morality and leadership in view of Chua’s sex scandal.

Although both pledged to work together after the election, the new line-up appears to have paved the way for further turmoil within the party.

Sharing this sentiment, Chua said he is of the view that the line-up does not help to close ranks.

“The appointments were his (Tee Keat’s) discretion but also reflects the leader’s wisdom, his leadership and his agenda - whether he wants to close ranks and whether he allows different voices to be heard,” he argued.

“A lot of people think he is trying to strengthen his position (through the line-up). In principle, it not wrong to strengthen your position but you must also close ranks and strengthen the party’s unity.”

Asked to comment on the fact that he has not been made Johor MCA chief, he said sarcastically: “I am sure people are happy that a person with high integrity come to lead the state.”

It is a tradition in the MCA that its president leads Johor, which has one of the largest groups of influential central delegates with voting rights.

Chua noted that Johor has been the political base of past presidents. However, Tee Keat (left) , who is Pandan MP, has based his political activities most of the time in Selangor and the Klang Valley.

He further revealed that he has received about 300 text-messages and phone calls since Tuesday, from supporters airing their grouses about the current party line-up.

Political observers have argued that the biggest winners are those formerly aligned to Team B - led by then deputy president Lim Ah Lek and including Tee Keat. The party had split into two factions in 2001.

There is also a popular perception that immediate past deputy president Chan Kong Choy, a former Team B key leader, was behind the line-up. Tee Keat has since denied the allegation.

Nevertheless, Chua - formerly from Team A - insisted there is “strong indication” of Chan’s hand in the matter.

To another question, Chua did not rule out the possibility that he would join forces with former party secretary-general Ong Ka Chuan.

Ka Chuan, also from Team A, lost to Chua in the recent contest for deputy presidency.

‘No-go’ with president

Asked to describe his relationship with Tee Keat, Chua acknowledged that there was “no warmth”.

“I (took the initiative to) see him once and I found it was a no-go situation. My personality is such that I won’t ‘beg’ the leaders. I will only beg central delegates to support me.

“When I talk to a person and I find that a person doesn’t open up, I feel there is no point for me to pursue it further [...] (Our relationship is like) he is the boss and I am one of the staff, there is no warmth,” he said.

Conceding that he is not in the mainstream of the party leadership, Chua expressed confidence that he knows“how to survive”.

“I have had confidence that I would win the (deputy president) post from the very beginning, I even calculated the votes (that I could garner) exactly and the difference was only 50 votes.

“I was optimistic I would win but at the same time, I had my reservations as to whether I would be accepted by the leadership. (I know) I can be accepted by the delegates - as for the leadership, I have my doubts.”

He declined to shed more light on his new portfolio, apart from saying that he would pay attention to issues of economy and education. These are closest to the Chinese community’s heart.

“I won’t tell you (the specific details), I have learned to be more reserved. Chua Soi Lek has become a changed man over the past year,” he said cryptically.

Despite his differences over how the party is being managed now, the senior politician said it was not time for him to throw in the towel.

“If I quit now, all the central delegates who have voted for me would curse me for life. I have to be responsible to the people who have voted for me. I have to try my best,” he stressed.