Barisan Nasional (BN) Secretary-General Mohamed Rahmat has set a cat among the pigeons with his claim that the ruling coalition has direct power to expel two MCA Penang state assembly representatives for purportedly acting against BN interests.

Lim Boo Chang (BN-Datuk Keramat) and Tan Cheng Liang (BN-Jawi) had abstained from voting against an opposition-sponsored motion to shelve the controversial Penang Outer Ring Road (PORR) project during a state assembly sitting two weeks ago.

MCA president Dr Ling Liong Sik, however, appears confident that BN will not intervene to enforce discipline in his party. While in Johor Baru on Monday, he was quoted by Bernama as affirming that "the BN was made up not of individuals but parties, and so the task of enforcing discipline lies with parties".

"Strictly going by the BN constitution, I believe there is no provision for BN's role (on taking of disciplinary action)," he was reported as saying.

Ling also said "the situation was different under BN's predecessor, Alliance, which had provided for direct membership".

The Alliance was founded by Umno, MCA and MIC in 1955. It was enlarged in 1974 to include opposition parties Gerakan, PAS and the People's Progressive Party, which had won a sizable number of parliamentary and state seats in the 1969 general elections.

PAS left the coalition and the government in 1978 after it bitterly fought Umno's attempt to 'destabilise' its state government in Kelantan.

Umno wants expulsion

Mohamed, an ex-information minister and former Umno secretary-general, reportedly said BN's power to discipline has never been used, but that it does exist.

According to recent reports in Berita Harian and New Straits Times, Mohamed Rahmat also suggested that a BN disciplinary board be set up under Umno Deputy President Abdullah Ahmad Badawi to hear the case against the two MCA representatives.

Abdullah, who is also BN deputy chairperson, is on record as saying that the duo face the prospect of being "expelled" by BN.

On Nov 29, the Umno supreme council reached a decision demanding that MCA sack Lim and Tan.

Against this background, Ling's remarks in Johor Baru can be construed as his most daring act of defiance to date. It is tantamount to publicly calling the move by Umno and Gerakan a 'bluff'.

The ball is now in the court of Abdullah, Mohamed Rahmat and Gerakan president Dr Lim Keng Yaik. They have to prove that Ling is technically and constitutionally wrong, by citing the provision in BN constitution in which "the power" is said to effectively exist.

MCA-Gerakan brouhaha

In a related development, MCA disciplinary board chairperson Kam Woon Wah has reportedly faxed a letter to Penang BN chairperson Dr Koh Tsu Koon, asking him to account for eight other 'missing' votes from BN representatives on the PORR motion. Koh is Penang chief minister and also a Gerakan vice- president.

Sin Chew Daily on Dec 5 quoted unnamed top MCA leaders as alleging that Penang State Assembly Speaker Yahaya Abdul Hamid had failed to ring the bell before voting on the motion took place. He is Umno's state assembly representative for Pinang Tunggal.

MCA is evidently trying to prove that the voting or division on the motion was ultra vires the Standing Order, and that Koh is 'unfair' not to also discipline the 'absent eight'.

However, it may be argued that absence, especially with prior permission of the party whip, is different from abstention from voting. The MCA duo were sitting in the assembly when voting took place.

The attempt to call Koh (photo) as a witness in the MCA disciplinary proceedings may complicate the issue and inflame political passions. Gerakan believes that MCA is still eyeing the Penang chief minister post, which the latter failed to retain after the 1969 general election.

As a highly educated liberal, Koh seems to be obliged by the norms of procedural justice and principle of fair play to respond to the queries of MCA's disciplinary board.

As he is top gun of Gerakan and Penang BN both of which have called for the expulsion of the MCA duo it could be embarrassing for him to be seen as being 'summoned' by the disciplinary committee of a rival party. Responding to the request could affect his moral authority over the state political hierarchy.

However, for Koh not to respond at all could give MCA an excuse to acquit Lim and Tan in the name of fairness and justice.

It was perhaps with these thoughts in mind that Koh reportedly said on Tuesday that he "might reply publicly or directly to the BN supreme council".

However, Ling had already said BN has no direct power to discipline individual members of component parties a remark that certainly pre-empts Koh's argument.

One way out for Koh could be for party chief Dr Lim to lead his battle-hardened veterans in engaging MCA in open polemics. In this way, Koh and his 'softer' technocrats and bureaucrats can avoid a public quarrel with MCA and carry on with business as usual.

Team B's dilemma

In the midst of the thrust-and-parry between MCA and Umno-Gerakan, MCA's Team B is caught in a Catch-22 situation. If it keeps quiet over the confrontation, it will be forgotten or seen by the party rank-and-file as not being vocal or powerful enough.

Ling and Team A will monopolise the show of defending party 'dignity and honour'. If Team B supports, or is seen to support, Umno and Gerakan against MCA interests, it faces rejection as turncoats and traitors.

And if it tries to outdo Team A in attacking Umno and Gerakan, it will lose the friendship of its powerful backer, and become isolated in its 'crusade for justice'.

It would not be in the interests of Team B if the controversy were to drag on.

With or without the current controversy, MCA's power struggles are expected to continue into 2005 when party elections will be held. New issues can always be found, and controversies created to sustained the clash of political interests.


JAMES WONG WING ON, chief analyst of Strategic Analysis Malaysia, is a former Member of Parliament (1990-1995) and a former columnist for the Sin Chew Jit Poh Chinese daily. He read political science and economics at the Monash University in Melbourne, Australia. While in Sin Chew, he and a team of journalists won the top awards of Malaysian Press Institute (MPI) for 1998 and 1999.