Liow pressured me to step down thrice, reveals Chua

MCA president Chua Soi Lek has come out with all guns blazing, accusing his deputy of being impatient to be the new party president.

He claimed that deputy president Liow Tiong Lai had met him three times after the 13th general election to ask him to step down.

According to Sin Chew Daily, Chua said at the first meeting which was held soon after the May 5 nationwide polls, Liow had also asked whether he could set aside the resolution for party leaders not to join the cabinet.

“I told him the resolution can be overturned, but this should be decided by the central delegates. An extraordinary general meeting should be called by the central delegates sometime after the elections,” Chua (left) said. 

The MCA annual general meeting in 2011 resolved that its leaders not to accept government appointments should the party fare badly in GE13.

“At the second and the third meetings, he (Liow) asked when I am going to retire and requested me to give him a date so that he can take over as president. According to the party constitution, once the president steps down, the deputy can take the post without becoming acting president.

“With this move, he (Liow) can be the president and when it comes to the year-end party polls, he will not be challenged,” revealed Chua.

Chua, who spoke at a press conference in Kulim, Kedah yesterday, said he had been relatively quiet over the past five months because he did not want to air the party’s dirty laundry in public. He decided to come out in the open following a series of attacks by Liow’s faction.

He was also quoted as saying that a leader who loved the party should discussed the party’s future together and not pressure him to step down after his early announcement that he would not defend his post.

Chua advised Liow to appreciate the opportunity given to him to lead the MCA transformation committee as the party delegates can evaluate him as a leader.

Liow should also take blame for GE defeat

According to the daily, Chua also said that Liow should bear some responsibility for the party’s defeat in the recently-concluded general election as the latter was election committee chairperson in charge of strategic planning and publicity.

Chua told Liow (left) to be “a bit more patient (sabar)” and not try to rally the party grassroots against him.

On MCA organising secretary Tee Siew Keong’s membership suspension issue, Chua insisted that the former had the right to file an appeal, while the party’s presidential committee had the power to either accept or reject the disciplinary committee’s suggestion as stated in the party constitution.

Chua chastised Liow for leading 14 central committee (CC) members to oppose the decision to lift Tee Siew Keong's membership suspension. Tee had earlier gone against the party decision and accepted a state cabinet’s post in Johor.

Chua stressed that in a democracy, the minority should accept the majority’s decision.