Soi Lek raps Tee Keat for ‘threatening’ MCA

By Clara Chooi

August 09, 2011

PUTRAJAYA, Aug 9 — Datuk Seri Dr Chua Soi Lek has accused Datuk Seri Ong Tee Keat of threatening the MCA by announcing his candidacy in Pandan yesterday without receiving the party’s endorsement, reigniting an old spark that razed the party during a protracted leadership crisis last year.

The MCA president also dismissed Ong’s complaints of being ostracised by the party leadership, saying the Pandan MP has been backing himself into a corner.

Dr Chua said the party aims to field ‘winnable candidates’. — File pic

“It is not true that anybody is pushing him to a corner. He is the one who whacks us anytime he likes... you know that.

“So you can say that he is pushing himself to the corner, nobody is pushing him to a corner,” Dr Chua toldThe Malaysian Insiderwhen met at the sidelines of a breaking fast function held at the prime minister’s Seri Perdana residence here last night.

He was commenting on Ong’s media statement last night where his predecessor had openly declared his candidacy for the Pandan parliamentary seat in the coming polls — with or without the MCA’s endorsement.

“I made my unequivocal stance that I will certainly contest the Pandan parliamentary seat come the next general election with or without MCA or BN’s endorsement of my candidature,” he had said.

Ong had also complained that top leaders in the MCA were teaming up in a conspiracy to destroy his relationship with the few remaining allies he has in the flailing party.

According to Ong, who was unseated from the party presidency in a three-cornered race last year, this was aimed at forcing him to back out from recontesting his Pandan seat in the coming polls.

“Of late, MCA sources have again been at work, deliberately rekindling the speculation of MCA’s choice of candidate for Pandan.

“Such names as Cindy Leong and Heng Seai Kie who are deemed friendly to me have been mentioned, conceivably aimed at driving a wedge between me and the personalities implicated,” the former transport minister had said in the statement.

Dr Chua refuted his claim, and reminded Ong that all candidates for the polls are traditionally recommended by the respective divisions.

“And this time, we also welcome people from the branches to suggest to us candidates... so we are more open,” he said.

Ong said he will recontest the seat with or without the MCA’s endorsement.

When asked if this meant that Ong would stand a fair chance to recontest Pandan, Dr Chua stressed that the party aimed to field “winnable candidates”.

“We look at winnable candidates... but do not threaten the party.

“The whole party exists not because of one candidate. He always wants to threaten people. But let him go and say what he wants,” he retorted.

It is no secret that there is no love lost between Dr Chua and Ong, particularly after the latter was sacked from the post of deputy president in 2009 because of the ghost of his 2007 sex scandal.

But the former health minister made a surprise comeback during the party polls last year and successfully trounced Ong and his men from the party’s leadership line-up.

However, it is believed that Ong could be the MCA’s strongest candidate in Selangor for the coming polls, having been the party’s only survivor in the parliamentary contest during Election 2008.

Of the seven parliamentary seats contested by the MCA, Ong, who has often been described as well-liked by his electorate, was the only candidate who retained his seat with a comfortable 2,961-vote majority.

The two state seats under Pandan — Chempaka and Teratai — were ironically both snapped up by the opposition with sizeable majorities, namely PAS’s Iskandar Abdul Samad and DAP’s Jenice Lee Ying Ha.