KUALA LUMPUR: The MCA’s five-man disciplinary board has resigned en bloc, two days after seeing the return of the deputy president whose sacking it had recommended in August.
The resignations are an apparent snub of party president Datuk Seri Ong Tee Keat, who had appointed them a year ago, and plunges the party further into its continuing leadership crisis.
Party sources said the five members, all party veterans, were unhappy with the return of Datuk Seri Dr Chua Soi Lek as deputy president.
In appointing the five, with lawyer Datuk Ng Cheng Kiat as chairman, Ong had defied party convention that the board is headed by the deputy president.
The other members are Datuk Jimmy Low Boon Hong, Datuk Ng Soon Por, Lai Kuan Fook and Ng Chih Siang.
They had yet to submit resignation letters, party sources said, as they were waiting for Ng to inform the president.
Party sources said the board members cited their “inability to function” given the “present circumstances” and “current system” as stated in the constitution.
Dr Chua, whose sacking the board had recommended in August, was reinstated on Tuesday when the Registrar of Societies held that he was still MCA deputy president.
Party sources said the board members felt their opinions were not valued by the party and that the leadership but the former health minister failed in a bid for reinstatement as deputy president.
He then filed an appeal with ROS, which later ruled that under the party’s constitution, Dr Chua was the rightful deputy president.
In confirming the resignations, Lai said the board members found the present system of looking into disciplinary cases ineff icient.
Citing an example, he said Umno had disciplinary and appeals boards, whose decisions could not be overturned even by the party’s supreme council.
“However in MCA, we discovered that in many cases, our recommendations go through to both the presidential council and CC for deliberation and then it is later changed.
“We think the current system does not work,” he told the New Straits Times.
He said the board felt that it was unable to do its job efficiently at present.
However, he refused to comment when asked whether their resignations were due to Dr Chua’s reinstatement.
