The MCA central committee meeting has been adjourned to 8pm to give time for it to persuade party president Dr Ling Liong Sik and his nemesis-cum-deputy Lim Ah Lek to retract their quit letters.

The members unanimously voted to reject the resignation letters and formed two committees to convince the two leaders.

The first committee, comprising vice-presidents Dr Fong Chan O­nn (left), William Chek and central committee member Dr Chua Soi Lek, is tasked to meet Ling, who has been at the helm for the past 17 years.

And the second committee, headed by central committee member Fu Ah Kiow and his two CC colleagues, Tang See Hang and Dr Yeow Chai Thiam, will meet Lim.

CC deliberation

The decision was announced by Fong - who chaired the meeting today. Fong obtained the highest number of votes among the six vice-presidents at the last party election and is therefore considered most senior among the veeps.

The meeting started at 12.05pm at the MCA headquarters in Jalan Ampang, Kuala Lumpur.

The CC has 41 members, but o­nly 40 turned up for the meeting today. Wong Mook Leong, a pro-Team B member, was absent.

At the start of the meeting, Ling and Lim informed the committee of their intentions to quit their party posts and left the meeting, allowing the CC to deliberate o­n the matter without their presence.

Lim left the meeting room at 12.25 noon and met reporters later while Ling was believed to have left through another exit.

When a vote count was taken among the CC members, 37 members rejected the resignation letters while o­ne, believed to be from Team B, abstained.

The party has openly split into two factions - with Team A headed by Ling and Team B by Lim - since the controversial acquisition of two major Chinese newspaper two years ago.

Internal crisis

The decision by the top two leaders to quit was seen by many as a step towards resolving this internal crisis.

Party secretary-general Dr Ting Chew Peh, quizzed o­n the party's succession plans, urged reporters to remain patient and wait for the outcome of the meeting tonight.

"At this moment, we are trying our best to persuade Ling and Lim to stay o­n," he said.

If the efforts are futile, the committee will then choose among themselves a new president and deputy in accordance with the MCA constitution, Ting added.

According to Article 23 of the constitution, the committee is empowered to fill the vacancies until the next party election - due in 2005.

The four key contenders for the top two posts, vice-presidents - O­ng Ka Ting (right), Chan Kong Choy (left), Chua and Fong - declined to comment when approached separately after the meeting.

Ong and Chan were named in Ling's resignation letter "for their cooperation in making this transition possible".

In the past week, speculations have been rife that the party will be helmed by the O­ng and Chan.

Supporters turn up

Earlier in the morning, some 50 members led by pro-Team A Youth vice-president Hang Chin Pheng held a gathering in front of the party headquarters.

When Ling, who is the transport minister, arrived at 11.30am, the crowd chanted slogans and hold banners which read "we still need your leadership" and "Mr President, we support you".

Ling did not respond to their overtures but managed a smile for them as he entered the building.

Ever since unconfirmed news spread that Ling had tendered his quit letter to Ting, hundreds of grassroot leaders have met Ling, hoping to convince him to change his mind.

Team B leaders arrived later but did not proceed through the main entrance.

According to informed sources, Chua met Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad at Putrajaya immediately after returning from Geneva this morning. He had cut short an international health conference to be at the meeting.

Some political watchers believe Chua will have an important role to play in the party's interm leadership.

The health minister was greeted by about 300 of his supporters at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport, including Team B leaders O­ng Tee Keat and Dr Tan Yee Kew.

Yesterday, O­ng and Chan were reported to have met the premier together as well.