The signature campaign to oppose MCA president Liow Tiong Lai’s move to amend the party constitution through a show of hands at an extraordinary general meeting (EGM) is not part of an agenda to engineer his downfall, a source close to the opposing faction said.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, the source accused the president’s camp of twisting the issue in order to discourage MCA central committee members from supporting the campaign.

"It is a very sad day if MCA members can't look at this to understand the issue.

"This has nothing to do with factions or overthrowing Liow. We just want to exercise our right provided by the party constitution to demand for secret balloting," he told Malaysiakini today.

Liow has called for an EGM to decide on whether or not to amend the MCA constitution to implement a new voting system, which certain quarters claim will be open to abuse.

The opposing side wants the decision to be made through secret balloting, as opposed to a show of hands.

They argue that the latter method would discourage the 2,375 central committee delegates from expressing their objection as it would expose the dissenters to the leadership.

'Amendment a major transformation'

The source also explained that since the amendment is a major transformation, many in MCA want the voting to be done in secret.

"As long as one third of the central delegates demand secret voting, then they (the leadership) will have to oblige.

"They know we will get a lot of signatures, so they purposely turned it into a fight to overthrow the president so that his people would not sign," he said.

He also claimed that since Liow's faction is aware that the signatures collected have exceeded the stipulated number, the issue is being painted as a rebellion against the president so that those who inked their support would revoke it on the grounds of being misled.

"But look at the wording of the letter (for the signature campaign), there is not a single word in it that condemns anyone, let alone the president," he added.

However, the source conceded that if the plan to implement the new voting system fails, it would be a slap in the face for Liow ( photo ).

"Yes, but it's only a slap in his face.

"It doesn't means he has to step down, the main reason is that he (Liow) is afraid. If this doesn't get through, some will initiate a move to pass a vote of no confidence against him," the source said.

Apart from demanding secret balloting, the signature campaign is also seeking the support of central committee members to prevent the postponement of the party elections, slated for this year.

"We would put this in as another resolution for the same EGM.

"If we write in to request this, the central committee has the right to reject this. However, they have no right to reject if one third of the delegates sign," he said.

Those who initiated the signature campaign are MCA vice-president Chua Tee Yong, who is the son of former president Dr Chua Soi Lek, central committee member Ei Kim Hock and Wanita MCA secretary-general Ooi Siew Kim.