MCA Youth chairperson Ong Tee Keat today said the party's succession plan must reflect the current hierarchy in that the deputy must be allowed to assume the top post once it falls vacant.

"The hierarchy was very clear even before the peace plan was introduced. If there are any vacancies or resignation (of the president), then in accordance with the constitution, the deputy president should move up," he said.

"This should be respected. I can't just say 'I am not close with that man, so I don't want him' (as successor). If there is any vacancy, the second person should replace (the out-going person) immediately."

He was asked to comment on deputy president Lim Ah Lek's (photo) remark yesterday that president Dr Ling Liong Sik could step down any time despite Ling's assertion that he could only do this after resolving succession issues.

He cited the precedent set in 1986 when president Tan Koon Swan resigned. As deputy then, Ling took over the post without dispute and has been holding it up to today.

Ong, also a party vice-president, was speaking to reporters after chairing the second Youth wing management and co-ordination committee meeting at MCA headquarters. He is widely known to be loyal to Team B, the dissident faction in MCA.

However, he refused to comment on a rumour that Team A would call for a vote of no confidence against Lim if he were to become president before 2005, in order to prompt immediate elections.

Political games

Last week, Ling announced that he had sent an undated resignation letter to Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad last August to quit his cabinet post as transport minister.

He also said he had no plans to step down as MCA president before his term expires in 2005 if he cannot resolve the party's succession issue.

This led to Team B, helmed by Lim, accusing him of playing politics. Just prior to Ling's announcement, Lim had said he would stand for the president's post in 2005.

Ling was quoted in today's media reports as saying that his successor must be decided by the members at an extraordinary general meeting.

However, under Article 40 of the party constitution, the deputy president automatically becomes president if the post is vacated for any reason prior to a party election.

'Very confused'

Ong also said the Youth meeting today did not discuss Ling's intention to quit his ministerial post.

"We are still very confused. Different newspapers have carried different reports some said the Prime Minister had rejected his resignation, but others said this is still pending approval. So, whenever there is confusion, it is better for us not to say anything," he remarked.

Responding to media reports today quoting Ling as saying he was getting irritated by his deputy Lim's recent "nagging", Ong sent out a gentle hint to Ling to be patient.

"When I was insulted with allegations and poison-pen letters, did I say anything? Did I say I was irritated? Indeed, that was smearing and not nagging, but I still remained calm and patient," he replied.

The Youth chief was referring to accusations against him two years ago when he was alleged to have been "arrogant" for not following procedure in calling for an extraordinary general meeting. This led to a fracas which saw members throwing chairs at one another during the meeting.

Cause of friction

MCA, which claims over one million members and is the second largest party in the ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition, was split into two camps when ties between Ling and Lim were strained due to the failure of the succession talks in 1999.

After the 1999 general election, Lim's protege and vice-president Chan Kong Choy (photo) was not given the Human Resources Minister's post that Lim had vacated. The post instead went to Ling's staunch supporter and another vice-president, Dr Fong Chan Onn.

The friction escalated in May 2001 with the party rank and file splitting openly into two camps known as Team A and Team B, when MCA acquired Nanyang Press Holdings.

In the run-up to the party election, Team B claimed that hundreds of thousands of phantom members had been recruited to "help" Team A leaders secure their posts. But Team A countered that this was a baseless allegation by "insecure" Team B leaders who wanted to derail the polls.

Mahathir intervened in the feud last April to head off a potential backlash in Chinese support for the BN. He brokered a peace deal between Ling and Lim, which imposed a no-contest ruling for all party posts until 2005.