PERMATANG PASIR: Former MCA vice-president Datuk Chua Jui Meng dropped hints that embattled Datuk Seri Ong Tee Keat’s position as party president is under threat, insinuating at an ongoing conspiracy by Umno to oust him.
Chua, who quit the Chinese party to join PKR, told some 500 people in a ceramah here that many Umno leaders are unhappy with the way Ong is trying to expose the RM12 billion Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ) scandal which, he alleged, would implicate many leaders from the dominant Malay party.
“Have you seen the prime minister coming out to defend Ong? Have you heard of the deputy prime minister defending Ong on the PKFZ scandal? Or were there any other Umno leaders, for that matter, that have defended Ong on the issue? No,” said Chua.
“This never happened before. Last time, there was this strong camarederie where leaders in Barisan Nasional (BN) would protect each other but this has not happened. The president of the second biggest BN component party is attacked and no one from Umno has come out to defend him,” added Chua,
He said the present situation, with BN component parties showing lack of cohesion and divided along racial lines, has caused disquiet among the people, especially the Chinese community.
This, coupled with widespread rumours among the ruling coalition’s inner circle that BN president Datuk Seri Najib Razak and deputy president Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yasin are dissatisfied with Ong’s presidency, preferring his deputy Datuk Seri Chua Soi Lek instead to lead the Chinese-based party, have undermined Ong’s position.
“All this shows that Ong’s claim that he is under attack, internally and externally, is true,” Chua noted.
In recent weeks, the MCA president has also found himself locked in between two battle fronts from within the party and BN.
Ong had worked hard to build up an image of being clean and transparent but his reputation is now in tatters following Datuk Seri Tiong King Sing’s allegations about a large donation and rides on private jets, and his position as party president is considered shaky with MCA deputy president’s supporters expected to push ahead with plans to call for an EGM to remove him.
Tiong is CEO of Kuala Dimensi Sdn Bhd (KDSB), the main developer of PKFZ and whose company is under investigation by Ong’s ministry. Tiong had dropped a bombshell when he claimed that he had made a RM10 million donation to Ong “for MCA party purposes”.
Ong had also confirmed that the party’s treasurer-general Tan Sri Tee Hock Seng has been called up by MACC regarding the RM10 million donation by Tiong.
Chua, who quit the Chinese party to join PKR, told some 500 people in a ceramah here that many Umno leaders are unhappy with the way Ong is trying to expose the RM12 billion Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ) scandal which, he alleged, would implicate many leaders from the dominant Malay party.
“Have you seen the prime minister coming out to defend Ong? Have you heard of the deputy prime minister defending Ong on the PKFZ scandal? Or were there any other Umno leaders, for that matter, that have defended Ong on the issue? No,” said Chua.
“This never happened before. Last time, there was this strong camarederie where leaders in Barisan Nasional (BN) would protect each other but this has not happened. The president of the second biggest BN component party is attacked and no one from Umno has come out to defend him,” added Chua,
He said the present situation, with BN component parties showing lack of cohesion and divided along racial lines, has caused disquiet among the people, especially the Chinese community.
This, coupled with widespread rumours among the ruling coalition’s inner circle that BN president Datuk Seri Najib Razak and deputy president Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yasin are dissatisfied with Ong’s presidency, preferring his deputy Datuk Seri Chua Soi Lek instead to lead the Chinese-based party, have undermined Ong’s position.
“All this shows that Ong’s claim that he is under attack, internally and externally, is true,” Chua noted.
In recent weeks, the MCA president has also found himself locked in between two battle fronts from within the party and BN.
Ong had worked hard to build up an image of being clean and transparent but his reputation is now in tatters following Datuk Seri Tiong King Sing’s allegations about a large donation and rides on private jets, and his position as party president is considered shaky with MCA deputy president’s supporters expected to push ahead with plans to call for an EGM to remove him.
Tiong is CEO of Kuala Dimensi Sdn Bhd (KDSB), the main developer of PKFZ and whose company is under investigation by Ong’s ministry. Tiong had dropped a bombshell when he claimed that he had made a RM10 million donation to Ong “for MCA party purposes”.
Ong had also confirmed that the party’s treasurer-general Tan Sri Tee Hock Seng has been called up by MACC regarding the RM10 million donation by Tiong.
24/08/09
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