EGM over, but Chua-Liow feud still on

The dust may have settled at MCA's extraordinary general meeting (EGM) but factional struggles since the end of Ong Ka Ting's presidency in 2008 are still likely to plague the party.

For now, the party’s president Chua Soi Lek (left) and his deputy Liow Tiong Lai are at a stalemate.

At the EGM requisitioned by Chua’s supporters, they failed to obtain enough votes to censure Liow – a slap on the wrist that will disturb his chances at December’s party polls had it been passed.

On the other hand, the central delegates also rejected the motion to accept cabinet positions, thus dashing Liow and his close confidant Wee Ka Siong’s hopes of rejoining the cabinet anytime soon.

The duo are the most senior MCA leaders in the Dewan Rakyat.

For Liow, he can claim a moral victory in the fact that Chua's bid to censure him through the EGM, coupled with an intense media campaign against him and use of party machinery, fell flat.

Chua's half

But on the other hand, the results of the EGM showed that Chua still has a firm grip of just under half the delegates which in turn will have an impact on who gets to be the next party president.

A close look of the EGM’s results show that his level of support has not shifted, since the 965 votes in favour of the censure is little different from the 901 votes that Chua garnered in the 2010 party election.

It seems that over that past three years, despite all the turmoil within and outside MCA, Chua still has 900-odd unwavering supporters at hand.

The reverse situation that the 1,190 votes against the censure are Liow supporters is unlikely to hold true because some of those votes may come from supporters of other factions, sympathy votes, or delegates disillusioned by the whole drama.

In other words, Liow’s level of support amongst the central delegates is still unclear and is especially perilous in event of a multi-corner fight at the party election.

Final battle in December

Chua still has another card up his sleeve: In the recently concluded divisional elections, many of his supporters have edged out Liow’s supporters, while Liow’s key supporters in the central committee such as Hoe Kok Chung and Lee Wei Kiat, are ineligible to contest.

This is because Hoe did not seek another term at the central delegate, while Lee lost in his bid to become the Subang division chairperson.

According to the party constitution, only central delegates are eligible to contest in the party election, whereas to be a delegate, one must be an incumbent central committee member, a member of parliament and state assembly, a state liaison committee chairperson, a divisional chairperson, or elected by their division to be delegate.

It remains to be seen what is Chua’s next move, after he had left the EGM in a hurry and leaving behind only a short press statement.

Regardless, the stage looks set for another climactic battle within MCA for the next party election in December – where the real battlefield lies for what was once Malaysia's second most powerful political party.