Ong And Chua Clash Again, Set To Renew The Protracted Battle
Written by Writer on Friday, November 14th, 2008
Ong And Chua Clash Again, Set To Renew The Protracted Battle
By Alan Ting
KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 13 (Bernama) — Barely two days after the appointment of MCA key appointed positions was announced, a crack seems to have appeared in the relationship between MCA president Datuk Seri Ong Tee Keat and his deputy, Datuk Seri Dr Chua Soi Lek.
Although the appointment was the prerogative of the party president, it was reported that Dr Chua was not too happy about it when he said “not to play around with him anymore and to respect the wishes of the delegates” in what appeared to be a clear message to Ong not to sideline him anymore.
This apparently referred to the upcoming appointment of the ministerial position following the defeat of Housing and Local Government Minister Datuk Seri Ong Ka Chuan in the party polls on Oct 18.
“It is not whether I am happy or not, but whether the delegates are happy or not,” he was quoted as saying.
Tee Keat has been at loggerheads with Dr Chua during the party election campaign to the extent of labelling the former health minister as a “morally tainted blogger” while Dr Chua retaliated by criticising Tee Keat as trying “to behave like a saint”.
However, immediately after the party election, the two leaders, nicknamed the “kangkung leaders”, said they could work together although some party members and political analysts were doubtful.
This doubt seemed to have basis when, after the party’s maiden Central Committee (CC) meeting chaired by Tee Keaton Tuesday, Dr Chua was left out of the key appointed positions such as the state chairman. Instead, he was only tasked to head the party’s government policy monitoring bureau.
Tee Keat instead appointed his trusted allies to the key positions. Datuk Wong Foon Meng was appointed secretary-general, Tan Sri Tee Hock Seng treasurer-general and Youth vice-chairman Wyman Yoo Wei How was made the new national organising secretary — which ultimately strengthened his grip on the second largest Barisan Nasional (BN) component party.
Even though these leaders were said to be close to former deputy president Tan Sri Dr Chan Kong Choy, their appointments, insiders and political analysts nevertheless noted that it was a calculated move to check Dr Chua’s influence in the party.
Apart from that, Ong also appointed himself as the Johor party chief instead of Dr Chua, who is from Johor, and appointed his trusted lieutenants to head other states.
Tee Keat defended his choices, saying that his decisions were not meant to please a “certain group of persons.”
He reminded Dr Chua that in any political party, there could only be one person at the helm at one time.
“Did you see Annette Lu (former Taiwan vice-president) giving commands when Chen Shui Bian was the president of Taiwan? The same goes for Ma Ying-jeou (current president), you will not see Vincent Siew (current vice-president) standing up and making comments.
“And I am quite sure you don’t see PKR’s (deputy president) Syed Husin Ali giving orders,” he told a vernacular newspaper in an interview published today.
– BERNAMA
