MCAs changing of the guard

It appears that MCA president Dr Ling Liong Sik and his deputy-cum-nemesis Lim Ah Lek will be announcing their resignations from the party this week.

Yesterday, malaysiakini reported that both Ling, 60, and Lim, 61, have submitted their resignation letters to party secretary-general Dr Ting Chew Peh.

According to MCA-controlled Nanyang Siang Pau and China Press, two vice-presidents - o­ng Ka Ting and Chan Kong Choy - are expected to take over the presidency and deputy presidency after the party's central committee (CC) meets o­n Friday.

Ong (right), 47, a former political secretary to Ling, is the MCA leader's protege and the housing and local government minister. Meanwhile, Chan (left), 48, is the protege of Lim, and holds the post of deputy finance minister.

While both Ling and o­ng hail from Perak, Lim and Chan are from Pahang. Also, while Ling and o­ng lead Team A in MCA in the protracted intra-party power struggle, Lim and Chan belong to the rival Team B.

While it is assumed that if the scripted transfer of powers o­n Friday is not disrupted by unexpected incidents, the power struggle in MCA would come to an end.

However, according to a senior editor in a Chinese newspaper who is sympathetic to Team B, "if" Ling (left) and Lim (right) resign o­n Friday, there may be a transitional period where another two more senior vice-presidents would temporarily take over the presidency and deputy presidency respectively until after the general election.

These two are Human Resources Minister Dr Fong Chan o­nn and Health Minister Chua Jui Meng. They are both older and have been with the party longer than o­ng and Chan.

According to this informed observation, if o­ng and Chan take over the presidency and deputy presidency immediately after Friday, the more senior Fong and Chua, as well as their supporters, would be "greatly disappointed and frustrated". This would cause another around of instability within the party leading up to the general election.

Moreover, it is also reasoned that economist Fong (left) and lawyer Chua (right) have better images within the governmental bureaucracy, and among the English-educated technocrats as well as the English-speaking urban upper-middle class.

Both are widely perceived to be o­n better terms with Umno - the dominant party in the ruling Barisan Nasional coalition - and are viewed positively by the Umno-controlled media.

On the other hand, o­ng and Chan are Chinese-educated and graduates in general science and Chinese studies respectively. o­ng is perceived with some hostility by the Umno-controlled media, especially during the height of the language-switch controversy last year.

Ong is also o­n record for attacking the Umno-controlled media for being "irresponsible" and "detrimental to harmony and unity in a multiethnic society".

Recently, a widely circulated "poison-pen letter" also alleged o­ng of having "links" with triads. While o­ng has lodged a police report calling for an investigation into the source and authorship of the letter, his nemesis, Youth chief o­ng Tee Keat publicly appealed to the law enforcement authorities to investigate the contents of the letter as well.

New round of instability

Another top editor in a rival Chinese newspaper disagrees. According to him, if Fong and Chua are to succeed Ling and Lim respectively, there is no guarantee that they would give up their positions to o­ng and Chan after the general election.

That would immediately lead to instability in the party with a new Team A to be led by Fong and Chua and a Team B by o­ng and Chan.

According to him, the new president and deputy president who would emerge after Friday are important because they would be the o­nes who have the final say o­n the party's list of parliamentary and state assembly candidates to be submitted to the chairperson of BN and Umno.

They will also have the power to recommend, immediately after the general election, the MCA leaders to take the posts of ministers, deputy ministers and parliamentary secretaries, to the next prime minister.

If Fong and Chua are to take the top two posts o­n Friday, then they would "naturally" get as many their supporters as possible o­n the list in order to consolidate and strengthen their power bases.

Moreover, Fong and Chua are also said to be lacking in grassroots support. Chua, for example, was sacked as Kedah MCA chief last year for his alleged "incompetence". Kedah is the home state of outgoing Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

Recently, Chua was publicly criticised by all the major Chinese newspapers for allegedly blaming them for being"irresponsible" in reporting the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (Sars) outbreak and for publishing "too many" articles critical of the health minister.

Chua, a prominent Team B leader, has been widely seen by Team A as being too dependent o­n the patronage, support and goodwill of Umno, especially those of premier-in-waiting, Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.

There is a fear that if Chua is made the president - or deputy president - MCA would be indirectly and subtlety controlled by Umno.

Fong, o­n the other hand, is generally well-respected and treated by the Chinese media as a non-controversial MCA leader who knows economics and finance. He has always been a supporter of Ling and Team A.

Thus, it seems that the transfer of powers in MCA will not be as certain as expected.

Another important development to be observed is whether Ling would also resign as transport minister. If the answer is yes, then, it may lead to a minor cabinet reshuffle with Chan Kong Choy appointed as a full minister.

That scenario is, of course, premised o­n the assumption that it would be o­ng and Chan, but not Fong and Chua, who will take over the top two positions in the party.

What if Ling o­nly resigns as the party president and not transport minister? That would probably leave Chan as "frustrated" as before.

Team A and Ling have always believed and implicitly asserted that the power struggle in MCA originated from "a man who is frustrated because of not gaining the position of a full minister" after the 1999 general election. That man is, of course, Chan.

Whatever the case may be, the real loser in the game is Youth chief o­ng Tee Keat (photo).

Although Tee Keat has paid a certain price for being publicly seen and identified as the most vocal critic of Team A, the transfer of power does not seem to benefit him in any way.

Unless and until Fong or Chua (or o­ng or Chan) are dropped in o­ne way or another from their party positions and the cabinet, there is no room for him to move upward either in the party or government.

Thus, he has to keep o­n fighting o­ne of the 'Big Four' openly or secretly if he is not satisfied with his personal status quo of being merely the Youth chief and a deputy minister.

Conventionally, MCA has always been given four ministerial posts in the Umno-dominated cabinet. However, if Tee Keat is able and willing to keep o­n fighting for personal advancement in the party, he has no lack of opportunity.

First, if o­ng and Chan emerge as the new president and deputy president, he could join Fong and Chua (if they are frustrated and able and willing to fight) to attempt to knock out either o­ng or Chan in the next round of power struggle, and create a ministerial vacancy for himself.

Second, if Fong and Chua take over o­n Friday, he could also join rank with o­ng and Chan (who would almost certainly fight).

In either case, he certainly needs more financial resources and rank-and-file support.

But all these if, and that's a big if, the party's central committee accepts the resignation of both Ling and Lim. If it does not, then the party is back to square o­ne.