Gan: Secret deal fooled delegates

The secret agreement between Dr Chua Soi Lek and Liow Tiong Lai has fooled MCA delegates at the party polls and will plunge the party into an intergrity crisis.

KUALA LUMPUR: The secret agreement between the former and current MCA president ahead of the party elections is akin to fooling the party delegates by not giving them a chance to make a judgment, said former vice-president Gan Ping Sieu.

Gan said MCA had no grounds to criticise the DAP for its internal elections fiasco following former president Dr Chua Soi Lek’s disclosure of the secret agreement with current leader Liow Tiong Lai.

“We cannot say the DAP election process is a joke because we are no better. I won’t say the election was tainted, but the legitimacy of a MCA leader is in question.

“It will be hard to command the respect and confidence of the members if such corrupt practice is allowed and left unanswered,” he said at a media conference today.

His statement follows Chua’s allegation last week that Liow has failed to honour a signed agreement to appoint Chua’s supporters to the positions of secretary-general, central committee members and state chairmen.

Corrupt practice

Chua has criticised Liow as a leader with no credibility, but Liow rebutted that it was the former president who first reneged on his part of the agreement.

“Such an agreement offering jobs to individuals stated in black and white is corrupt practice,” said Gan, who lost to Liow in the December party polls.

He said if proven true the secret deal would plunge MCA into an unprecedented integrity crisis and would make party reform and recovery process harder.

“How can we have an agreement that affected the election process? We may as well not have a contest as it is a waste of time, money and energy,” said Gan.

He said the“menu culture” in MCA elections, where opposing factions distributed preferred candidates lists, was just a suggestion which did not involved a written pledge from the individuals.

The former youth and sports deputy minister urged Liow to respond immediately and reveal the contents of the agreement.

He, however, fell short of asking the party to conduct a re-election, saying that it was the legitimacy of the polls which was more important.