Is another party fight looming ?

The Chua Soi Lek incident is now more than 1 week old.  It has hogged the headlines of all major newspapers, and even Malaysiakini has been filled with so many letters and comments on this matter. Many people might think this is the end of the matter, and time will make people forget the whole episode.

My personal opinion is  that this episode is going to have serious repercussions in MCA, and the MCA’s national leaders will be under tremendous pressure to avoid another party fight, which has occurred almost as predictable as the sun rises from the east. The Chinese community has a saying: a small fight every three years, and a big fight every five.

It is really unfortunate that infighting has become an entrenched culture.

This morning,  Chinese press reports mentioned that when Chua returned to Batu Pahat last night , many thousands of emotional  supporters from all over Johore thronged the roads of this town to lend support to and welcome him.

Chua at Batu Pahat rally

a big support rally in Batu Pahat

Meanwhile, it was reported that the Labis division has made a resolution asking  Chua to be chosen as the candidate for the next general election. The presence of few thousands in a support rally in a small town like Batu Pahat would be equivalent to a mass rally of a hundred thousand of people in KL, and that is no joke. Even when he was a minister, the crowd was never so big, nor so emotional in their support. Chua is now being hailed as a hero in a tragedy, and has projected an image of a person ” gan chuo gan dang”- meaning “dare to do and dare to admit”.

Johore is the strong hold of MCA, just like it is the strong hold of UMNO. MCA has 15 state seats in Johore alone. It has also one of the largest  , if not the largest, no. of national delegates to the annual MCA national conference.

So Chua has lost the first battle. With his strong character and determination, be prepared for him to strike back.  He can also play the part of a kingmaker, or at the very least, play the part of a spoiler.

He could , for example , use a proxy to challenge whoever was deemed to be behind the plot to remove him. Even if he cannot win, it would cause a big dent in MCA’s image and split the MCA leadership.

So as I see it, another MCA party fight is now in the making. Whether it is going to be a big fight or a small fight, only time will tell. But it will not auger well for the Barisan National, with so many unsettling issues and election being so near now.

One intriguing point in Chua’s interview with the press following this scandal is that he mentioned that  a ‘clean and healthy political ‘ culture is more than just to limit the terms of office for the leaders. Limiting the terms of office was one of the first acts of the present MCA president Ong K T when he told over the presidency, and a clean and healthy political culture is also what Ong has ostensibly been telling his members. This reference by Chua is undoubtedly an affront to MCA President Ong Ka Ting, and there is plenty to read between the lines, if you are  a keen political observer.

 A friend with political strings told me that MCA  leadership is not confident of doing well in the coming general election. Out of the 40 Parliamentary seats, 7 are considered ‘black’  and 10 are considered ‘grey’.  ‘Black’ means “gonna case”- there is little chance to win- and grey means that the prospect of losing that particular seat is very high. So if MCA does not do well, what will happen? Next yr will be MCA’s election year when the national delegates will gather and choose their leaders again for the next 3 years. If the party suffers a big setback in the general election ( which will most probably come before the party convention), what will the members do?

Members might be looking for a change of leadership. They might want a strong personality to take over, and Chua was perceived to be such a person. With such threat looming, it is small wonder why this scandal is exposed at this time, when general election is just around the corner. As Chua himself hinted that this is a plot to finish him off politically.

Chua’s admission and resignation has endeared him to many MCa grassroots members, with Kelatan and Kedah divisional leaders coming forward to support him, besides of course his own support in Johore (more than 70%). I think whoever was the black hand has not prepared for such a thing happening. By admitting and resigning and ending the episode within 3 days, Chua has thrown the ball back to the foots of the top leadership. He has also put pressure on the leadership.

By his own act of accountability, he has put pressure on those leaders that are perceived to be involved in certain scandals involving possible corrupt practices and abuses of power. Already Opposition leader Lim Kit Siang is calling for MCA deputy President to follow Chua’s example to quit, citing the scandal of the 4.6 billion PKFZ, as reported in Malaysiakini a few days back.

I think whoever is the blackhand has not thought of these repercussions. By distributing the dvd which was filmed many months back, they might have thought that the timing is right to remove the enemy, but they have not expected the swiftness that Chua has responded. By their action, they have not only exposed Chua, but have also exposed how low MCA politics has gone down to. I am sure no MCA grassroots would feel proud the way one of their vice presidents is being forced out.

What goes round comes around. This is one of nature’s laws which has proven time and again to be true!