Pandan MCA denies endorsing Gary Lim

Exco members of the division say Dr Chua Soi Lek might have been misinformed.

CHERAS: MCA’s Pandan division today denied that it had endorsed Gary Lim as the BN election candidate for the constituency, contradicting party president Dr Chua Soi Lek’s announcement and heightening the feud between him and former president Ong Tee Keat.

At a press conference following an emergency meeting, Pandan MCA youth chief Chong Sin Won said the division had not met to decide whom to endorse.

“We are not against or for any candidate,” he said. “But to say we have approved Lim as our candidate—that we need to clarify.”

On Wednesday, Chua announced that Lim would contest in Pandan because Ong, the current MP for the constituency, had failed to garner enough support from division members.

Pundits saw the announcement as a continuation of the Chua-Ong feud that had its genesis in the months leading to the last MCA presidential election.

Today’s meeting was attended by 11 of the 14 executive councilors for the division. The three absentees were chairman Ong Chien Huing, Wong Choy and Foo Ah Shook.

Chong said the party president might have been misinformed about the division’s situation and that chairman Ong should set him straight.

He explained that the chairman could not attend the meeting because he had to keep an appointment in Shah Alam.

“But what was decided by the meeting stands because it is the voice of the majority,” he said.

“We are not saying yes or not to anyone. But we will give our full support to anyone selected by BN.”

However, Pandan MCA Wanita chief Leong Siew Kam told FMT afterwards that the move to convene an emergency meeting already showed that the division was not backing Lim.

“We hope the Prime Minister will decide in his wisdom on a winnable candidate for Pandan,” she said. “This is the only seat MCA has in Selangor.”

News reports have said that Najib met Ong Tee Keat (above) recently to discuss his candidacy and Ong was hoping that the final decision would be in his favour.

Sources told FMT that Ong had invited Najib to grace his Chinese New Year open house this Sunday.