The status of 261 MCA branches is not in question as they were approved by the party's central committee last year in accordance with the party constitution, MCA party elections steering committee chairman Dr Ting Chew Peh insisted today.

He said the steering committee met today with the party legal advisers to discuss the implications of the letter from the Registrar of Societies (ROS) which had reportedly ruled that the 261 new branches cannot participate in party elections.

The ROS ruling was based on the fact that the branches were not registered before Dec 31 last year.

The MCA election guidelines state that only those who sign up as party members before the year of the party elections can vote or become delegates, if chosen, at the divisional, state, and central levels.

According to Ting, he was informed by the registrar in a letter yesterday that the 261 branches had been ordered not to participate in party elections to be held this weekend.

Ting, who is also the party secretary-general, explained the party constitution provides for the central committee to approve branches.

He noted that if the constitution is read together with section 18A and 18C of the Societies Act 1966, the provisions of the party constitution should prevail as the law stated that party's decision is final and conclusive when it rules on dispute regarding party affairs.

He said the decision of the party was valid, claiming that the 261 new branches were approved before Dec 31.

"All branch elections, including the 261 new branches in question, should proceed as scheduled," Ting said.

Branch elections

It was MCA Youth chief Ong Tee Keat who had earlier sought ROS clarification on the status of the branches.

Ong who is aligned to Team B said, "We have to highlight this issue because the elections steering committee headed by Dr Ting Chew Peh had rejected the complaints about the branches.

"We were, therefore, left with no choice but to refer to the ROS for clarification."

Ting acknowledged receiving a copy of the letter from ROS which was addressed to the Youth chief but said he does not know why the ROS came out with the letter.

"Anyway, we also wrote to ROS to get a clarification today," he added.

Ting also announced that the election nominations of over 3,900 MCA branches nationwide were completed yesterday.

"The feedback we got is there are not many complaints," he said, adding that he only received two complaints and several telephone calls regarding the nominations.

All MCA branches are due to hold elections beginning this Sunday.