UPDATED
KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 31 — MCA president Datuk Seri Ong Tee Keat will convene his own extraordinary general meeting within 30 days, in an attempt to head off similar attempts by supporters of his rival Datuk Seri Dr Chua Soi Lek.
Ong is betting his political career on his own EGM and hopes to galvanise enough support to remain as party president even as he continues to come under siege from within and outside the MCA.
It is understood his EGM will have two main agendas — to justify his decision to sack Dr Chua and to garner support for his disclosures in the scandal-hit Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ) project.
But supporters of Dr Chua are also currently collecting signatures to also call an EGM to remove him as party president, and they hope to convene their meeting in September.
The latest two-EGM scenario looks set to lead MCA on a path of self-destruction, with the party split down the middle.
Ong’s EGM gambit is fraught with risk.
With significant numbers in his party in an angry mood, the EGM could end badly for him, with a no-confidence vote against his leadership.
Ong is using the PKFZ issue as a confidence vote in his leadership.
But the PKFZ scandal has been the one issue which has seen him suffer major blows to his own credibility.
PKFZ contractor Kuala Dimensi Sdn Bhd’s (KDSB) CEO Datuk Seri Tiong King Sing has alleged Ong took a RM10 million cash donation from him last year.
While Ong has filed a RM500 million suit against Tiong, his colleague in Barisan Nasional (BN), the latter has continued attacking Ong.
Ong’s supporters are claiming that Tiong’s attacks are a result of disclosures of wrongdoing by Ong’s Transport Ministry against KDSB in an ongoing probe on PKFZ.
But the transport minister also admitted to taking free rides on KDSB’s private jets while the company was under probe, suggesting close ties which were possibly inappropriate with Tiong’s company.
The Malaysian Insider understands from the Dr Chua camp that it would go ahead with plans for its own EGM.
The Dr Chua EGM seeks to reinstate him as deputy president and to pass a vote of no-confidence against Ong.
BN leaders, especially from Umno, are watching developments closely and are unhappy that Ong had pushed his party crisis to the brink by sacking Dr Chua.
Dr Chua was expelled from the party last week for tarnishing MCA’s image over a secretly recorded video of him in bed with his mistress that was distributed publicly in late 2007 by his political rivals.
He subsequently resigned from party posts and as a Cabinet minister, but last October he made a comeback to win the MCA deputy presidency.
Since then Ong had grown insecure and was uncomfortable with Dr Chua, with the two barely on speaking terms.
By dredging up the old sex scandal, Ong was hoping to remove Dr Chua from the scene even as he took on Tiong and KDSB.
But with Umno unhappy with his actions, Ong is now facing a fight for his political life.
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