UPDATE 2
KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 11 — Former MCA secretary-general Datuk Seri Ong Ka Chuan has joined in the chorus of MCA members calling for an EGM and said the one slated for Nov 28 is legitimate.
It's done according to Article 30.2 of the party constitution where an EGM can be called should one-third of the central committee members demand for it, he said.
This means that the call for an EGM to hold fresh polls made by the four requisitionists fulfils Article 30.2.
"Only the delegates can decide on the legitimacy of the EGM to be held on Nov 28," Ong told a press conference at Parliament lobby here, sayiing that no other individuals, including the president, can decide if any EGM is legal or not if it's to be held according to the party constitution.
Ong, who has been somewhat quiet throughout the crisis, said the EGM is the only way to solve the current impasse in the party as various technical issues, such as the reinstatement of Datuk Seri Dr Chua Soi Lek as the party's No. 2, remain unresolved.
"The decision by the Oct 10 EGM to reject Dr Chua's reinstatement remains as the EGM is the supreme authority of the party. Not even the RoS (Registrar of Societies) can deny this. Only another EGM can supercede the decision," he said.
The RoS had said recently that the sacking of Dr Chua as deputy president is against party constitution which requires the consent of two-thirds from the 2,300 central delegates.
Technically this is true. But Ong said the RoS may have not looked into the minutes of the meeting where CC members had overturned Dr Chua's sacking and impose a four-year suspension instead, a decision, Ong said, stands until today.
Alongside Ong at the press conference were former MCA deputy president Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai, vice-president Datuk Wee Ka Siong, sacked central committee member Datuk Chor Chee Hueng and several other top MCA leaders.
Liow said this means that his plan to hold another EGM will be legal and urge the central delegates to back him and attend the special assembly which, Liow said, is aimed at giving the mandate to the delegates to call for fresh polls.
"I hope that certain quarters will respect the rights of the party members and delegates to practice democracy and to hold an assembly," said Liow in reference to the attempt to block the EGM by his rivals Dr Chua and party president Datuk Seri Ong Tee Keat.
Both Ong and Dr Chua are against the EGM and urge Liow and his men to respect the "greater unity plan" blueprinted by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak.
Ong Ka Chuan, however, said the call to respect the unity plan by the president and deputy president is not because they want peace but because both of them had been technically rejected by the party but want to stay on at the helm of power.
"Both of them had lost in the EGM, that’s why they say respect the unity plan," he said, referring to the wafer-thin majority that voted for the president's resignation and the rejection to reinstate Dr Chua as deputy president.
Liow said he has already written a letter to the RoS in his "capacity as the MCA deputy president" calling for the body to reopen its probe into the matter.
A letter with the minutes of the CC meeting and the documented outcome of the Oct 10 EGM, which to Liow clearly showed that RoS had made a mistake in saying that Dr Chua is still deputy president, was sent some time this week.
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