MCAs central committee may meet to resolve the ongoing dispute over the extraordinary general meeting which has come about because of different interpretations of the party constitution, secretary-general Dr Ting Chew Peh said today.

He said this when asked if the central committee would exercise its right to have the final say in the event of any such dispute as provided under Article 174 of the party constitution, which also stipulates that the CCs decision cannot be challenged in court.

[The CC meeting will be held] preferably before April 21, said Ting during a press conference at the MCA headquarters in Kuala Lumpur.

Asked if the CC will expel members who defy the committees ruling, Ting replied: Well wait until that happens and well see how the party handles it. I dont want to speculate.

MCA Team B had earlier issued a notice to convene an EGM on April 21. This was in defiance of Tings decision on Tuesday that the meeting was not permitted as 49 of the original 810 delegates who had signed the petition earlier had withdrawn.

The new tally brings the number of delegates to less than one-third of the constitutional requirement needed for the EGM to convene.

However, Team B argued that the withdrawal should not matter as there were indeed more than the required 794 out of the total 2,384 delegates at the time the requisition was made.

Apart from the withdrawal, Ting had also said the EGM could not be convened as the proposed resolutions may effect an amendment of the party constitution and therefore should have been approved by the CC and any divisional assembly.

Of the 40 members in the CC, 32 are known to be aligned to party president Dr Ling Liong Sik while the other eight are in Team B led by deputy chief Lim Ah Lek.

General rule

Party legal bureau chairperson Leong Tang Chong who was also present at the press conference said though the party constitution is silent on whether delegates who initially signed but later revoke their petition for an EGM should be counted, it is a general rule that they should not be.

Meanwhile, Ting said the resolution proposed by Team B to set up a nine-member independent committee to remove the inappropriately registered names from the membership list and to prepare a new schedule for this years party polls will require the amendment of party constitution.

He said this was because Article 12 provides that the CC shall, among others, approve applications for membership and admission of members while Article 69 states that a divisional assembly shall be held in the month of June unless otherwise decided by the CC.

The CC had fixed April 28 for the divisional assembly after which a new batch of 2,667 delegates would be voted in to attend the June 29 annual general assembly.

Regarding another resolution which seeks to revoke the suspension of the Youth wing since last December, Ting said this would also result in an amendment of the party constitution.

He explained that the CC has the right to formulate, amend, and rescind standing rules, orders, rules, regulations, and by-laws pertaining to the Youth and Wanita sections as provided under Articles 176 and 162.

The CC had late last year set up a three-member special panel to take over the administration of the partys Youth section whose central committee was split into factions and was undergoing a leadership crisis.

Ting reiterated that these resolutions should have been adopted by the CC and a divisional assembly or submitted to the party secretary-general at least 14 days before an EGM is held, as stated in Article 168.

He said although the general assembly comprising all delegates is the ultimate authority of the party, it derives its authority and powers from the MCA constitution and must therefore act within the confines of the supreme law of the party.