Chan: All MCA posts can be contested next year
Beh Lih YiPublished: Oct 9, 2004 12:18 PM | Updated: Jan 29, 2008 10:21 AM
MCA members have been assured that the party leadership will not impose a "no-contest ruling" for key posts at next year's party election.
MCA members have been assured that the party leadership will not impose a "no-contest ruling" for key posts at next year's party election.
Giving the assurance today is party deputy president Chan Kong Choy who pointed out that "every member is granted equal rights under the party's constitution to contest any party post."
MCA polls are held every three years. The last elections was in 2002.
In his opening address at the MCA Youth's 41st annual general assembly in Kuala Lumpur today, Chan said that the issue of whether there will be contests for party top posts was already a hot topic although the elections was still a year away.
He called on all members to face next year's party election with a "mature and discipline" attitude.
In the 2002 party polls, there was no change of leadership under a 'peace plan' brokered by former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad to prevent an open split among supporters for then president Dr Ling Liong Sik and his deputy Lim Ah Lek.
The three-year tussle for power ended when Ling and Lim resigned last May and handed over their posts to their respective proteges, Ong Ka Ting and Chan.
In July, party secretary-general Dr Ting Chew Peh also made the similar call for all top posts to remain open for challenge through a resolution passed by the MCA Gopeng division led by him.
Age limit proposal
Meanwhile, MCA Youth chief Ong Tee Keat was tightlipped over whether he would defend his post or contest for a vice-president's post next year.
"This is still early. I do not wish to be preemptive or speculative," he told reporters after the youth meeting ended.
On the proposal to limit the age of Youth members from the current 45 to 40 and that of the Youth chief to 45, Ong said that the matter has not been finalised yet.
Delegates, he noted, were also not enthusiastic in debating the issue as it was "not something new."
He added that a special task force headed by Youth legal bureau chief Lim Seng Chai will obtain more feedback on the proposal.
Ong also revealed that the MCA central committee adopted the proposal yesterday to revert the joint secretaries-general system to its previous system of one office bearer for the post. The duo holding the posts now are Loh Seng Kok and Liow Tiong Lai.
Not right time yet
Earlier in his speech, Ong thanked the youth wing for their support in retaining the party's pride and strength in the consolidation process.
He also pledged the wing's support to the leadership of Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi and his crusade against corruption.
The attendance at today's meeting slightly dropped from last year's 55.7 percent to 51.34 percent and as usual the meeting resumed to an almost empty hall when more than half of the delegates left after lunch. The youth wing has 1,685 central delegates.
Meanwhile, MCA Wanita chief Dr Ng Yen Yen said she was disappointed with the media coverage of giving too much focus on the MCA-Gerakan merger plan, which the party has decided not to discuss in this year's meeting.
Secretary-general Ting who officiated at the Wanita meeting also felt that it was not the right time yet for the merger to take place.
Giving the assurance today is party deputy president Chan Kong Choy who pointed out that "every member is granted equal rights under the party's constitution to contest any party post." MCA polls are held every three years. The last elections was in 2002.
In his opening address at the MCA Youth's 41st annual general assembly in Kuala Lumpur today, Chan said that the issue of whether there will be contests for party top posts was already a hot topic although the elections was still a year away.
He called on all members to face next year's party election with a "mature and discipline" attitude.
In the 2002 party polls, there was no change of leadership under a 'peace plan' brokered by former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad to prevent an open split among supporters for then president Dr Ling Liong Sik and his deputy Lim Ah Lek. The three-year tussle for power ended when Ling and Lim resigned last May and handed over their posts to their respective proteges, Ong Ka Ting and Chan.
In July, party secretary-general Dr Ting Chew Peh also made the similar call for all top posts to remain open for challenge through a resolution passed by the MCA Gopeng division led by him.
Age limit proposal
Meanwhile, MCA Youth chief Ong Tee Keat was tightlipped over whether he would defend his post or contest for a vice-president's post next year.
"This is still early. I do not wish to be preemptive or speculative," he told reporters after the youth meeting ended.
On the proposal to limit the age of Youth members from the current 45 to 40 and that of the Youth chief to 45, Ong said that the matter has not been finalised yet.
Delegates, he noted, were also not enthusiastic in debating the issue as it was "not something new."
He added that a special task force headed by Youth legal bureau chief Lim Seng Chai will obtain more feedback on the proposal.
Ong also revealed that the MCA central committee adopted the proposal yesterday to revert the joint secretaries-general system to its previous system of one office bearer for the post. The duo holding the posts now are Loh Seng Kok and Liow Tiong Lai.
Not right time yet
Earlier in his speech, Ong thanked the youth wing for their support in retaining the party's pride and strength in the consolidation process.
He also pledged the wing's support to the leadership of Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi and his crusade against corruption. The attendance at today's meeting slightly dropped from last year's 55.7 percent to 51.34 percent and as usual the meeting resumed to an almost empty hall when more than half of the delegates left after lunch. The youth wing has 1,685 central delegates.
Meanwhile, MCA Wanita chief Dr Ng Yen Yen said she was disappointed with the media coverage of giving too much focus on the MCA-Gerakan merger plan, which the party has decided not to discuss in this year's meeting. Secretary-general Ting who officiated at the Wanita meeting also felt that it was not the right time yet for the merger to take place.
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