KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 21 — Just when the MCA seemed all set to hold its extraordinary general meeting (EGM), in the wake of deputy president Datuk Seri Dr Chua Soi Lek’s dismissal, the party’s central committee (CC) has flexed its muscles to overturn the decision and suspend him for four years instead.
This begs the question of whether the power of the CC was overlooked, or even underestimated, in the fractious past weeks which saw more than a fair share of barbs traded between rival supporters of party president Datuk Seri Ong Tee Keat and Dr Chua.
"They overlooked the CC as an independent body and pre-empted us by going straight for an EGM which should be called only as a last resort, and not the first resort. Members should not have jumped the gun," CC member Datuk Ti Lian Ker, of Pahang, told Bernama.
He said disgruntled members should have waited first to see how the CC would act before pushing for the EGM, now fixed for Oct 10, after the presidential council sacked Dr Chua for tarnishing the party's image over a sex video scandal.
Ti said the party constitution empowered the CC to take disciplinary action against any elected party official including to suspend or to expel with the support of two-thirds of the CC members present at the meeting.
Under Article 128 of the constitution, the CC has the final say on disciplinary matters and that cannot be challenged, even in a court of law.
Ti said he had insisted that Dr Chua's issue be discussed at the marathon seven-hour CC meeting last Saturday, to show that the party president could not act arbitarily, or that the CC was just a rubber stamp.
Currently, there are 43 CC members, with 25 elected, seven appointed by the president while the rest are party office-bearers.
Ti denied that the CC's move was tantamount to a lack of confidence in the presidential council, saying that at the same meeting the CC had overturned other disciplinary decisions as well.
Party sources said Dr Chua's issue was brought up by Senator Datuk Wong Siong Hwee from Kelantan and all were given the opportunity to express their views, including the most senior CC member, Datuk Wong Mook Leong.
Wong re-told his experience when he was sacked during the party crisis in the 1980s, saying that a suspension would have a similar effect as an expulsion, the source said.
"Some CC members sympathised with Dr Chua. They felt there was no need to push an already broken man and believed he should be given a chance to salvage a bit of his shattered honour," it added.
Ong, who chaired the meeting, had to "eat humble pie" in the face of the check and balance on his leadership by the CC, the source noted.
Enraged supporters of Dr Chua, however, hit back that it was not appropriate and an act of disrespect to the central delegates for the CC to discuss the matter as the rival factions had already agreed to the EGM and agenda.
Even Dr Chua spoke up: "Are they trying to say the CC is more supreme than the EGM?"
Party veteran Datuk Yap Pian Hon maintained the CC had the mandate because all decisions, including disciplinary matters, must go through both the presidential council and CC, the two decision-making organs in the party.
"If we stop at the presidential council level, it can be argued later that the decision is invalid because the due process was not complete," he said.
Dr Chua's supporters are pointing fingers that it was Ong who first called for an EGM on Aug 31, when they had barely started their signature campaign to push for one to annul Dr Chua's sacking.
A political observer, who declined to be named, views the CC's decision as a "smart tactical move" by Ong's side to neutralise the sympathy factor towards Dr Chua for the EGM.
The suspension may cause some of the 2,377 delegates to reconsider their views and swing away from Dr Chua as he would only be a party member after four years.
After all, Dr Chua had said he wanted to die an MCA member, the observer noted. — Bernama
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