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Tuesday 24 February 2009

Tee Keat says party won’t back Soi Lek

By Shannon Teoh-The Malaysian Insider

KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 24 - MCA president Datuk Seri Ong Tee Keat has described talk that an extraordinary general meeting was being planned to oust him as mere speculation, as the second biggest Barisan Nasional (BN) party was rocked today by an escalation of hostilities between its top two leaders.

Met in Parliament today, he avoided answering any questions directly from reporters regarding news that an EGM was being planned by supporters of deputy president Datuk Seri Dr Chua Soi Lek.

“That is your perception and I am entitled to mine,” Ong said when asked what whether an EGM was being called because members had lost faith in him.

Instead, Ong tried to switch focus to the latest revelations that Dr Chua is now facing a police investigation for engaging in oral sex, which is illegal in Malaysia, based on the video footage of him engaged in having sex with his mistress which surfaced in late 2007.

Yesterday, Dr Chua was hauled up by police in Petaling Jaya for questioning, after a report was lodged by someone who claimed he had been posted a DVD which contained pornographic footage.

Dr Chua told police it was the same scene which was recorded with a secret camera in a hotel room in Johor that was circulated in 2007 and caused him to eventually resign as health minister in 2008.

Johor police did not press charges against Dr Chua then. The perpetrators were also never found, according to police.

Dr Chua says the renewed use of the footage appeared orchestrated to kill him off politically.

Asked today if he thought the party would back Dr Chua in the face of the renewed sex allegations, Ong said: “Do you think we should support something that is against the law?”

When asked if the police investigations was tied to the possibility of the EGM, Ong said that the press could “correlate it any way with anything you like.”

“If you are innocent, then you are innocent, what is there to argue about and blame the whole world except yourself?” he said, referring to Dr Chua’s accusations of political motivation behind the investigations.

“Since when do we need to respond speculation?” he said when asked if he was concerned about the EGM.

“People can spread half-truths and lies but I have crucial matters to attend to. When I say the party is on a path of transformation, I mean business,” he added.

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