Sunday October 25, 2009

The storm’s over, let’s get cracking

ON THE BEAT WITH WONG CHUN WAI

Now that the Greater Unity Plan is in place, MCA leaders must begin to ensure that it will work.

ONE week is a long time in politics, but in the case of MCA politics, it is obviously even longer.

The political developments over the past one week have been dramatic, if not heart-stopping, with each twist and turn.

Political foes and their supporters, who at one time went after each other’s throats, have closed ranks while some supporters of the president have ended up being branded as traitors.

A group of central committee members has suddenly been likened to Marcus Brutus, in reference to the Roman politician who plotted to kill Julius Caesar in an attempt to take control of the Roman republic.

Another name, Judas Iscariot, has been used to label these central committee rebels – those who wanted party president Datuk Seri Ong Tee Keat to quit after the vote of no confidence against his leadership was passed at the extraordinary general meeting. (Judas, one of the 12 apostles of Jesus, is known for his betrayal of Jesus to the Roman authorities.)

The speed at which last week’s truce between Ong and his deposed deputy president Datuk Seri Dr Chua Soi Lek was agreed upon must have bewildered even the most seasoned political analysts.

It was no surprise that Dr Chua himself reminded the press that in politics there are no permanent friends or enemies.

The two have not been on good terms since they were elected to their respective posts last year. The feud culminated in a party presidential council meeting on Aug 26 and the sacking of Dr Chua from the party over a sex video clip involving him.

However, a central committee meeting on Sept 19 reviewed the sentence to a four-year membership suspension.

Subsequently, the EGM on Oct 10, which Dr Chua had pushed for, failed to get him reinstated as deputy president but he managed to get his membership restored.

Not everyone would be satisfied with the outcome of the truce, now called the Greater Unity Plan, as it is seen as inclining towards a status quo. But politics is, after all, about power and positions.

Those who had campaigned hard for the main players, whether it was for Ong or Dr Chua, expect some form of reward including political promotions. But some now feel they have been short-changed.

After the stalemate at the Oct 10 EGM, a group of CC members once loyal to Ong pushed for him to step down, believing his political career had ended.

But Ong has successfully pulled the rug from under their feet and has tactically surprised the rebels.

First, he invoked Article 30.1 of the party constitution, directing secretary-general Datuk Wong Foon Ming to call for an EGM to determine whether the party should go for fresh polls.

The clever move shocked CC members, who had believed it would be a “done deal”, as the rebels were said to have garnered enough signatures.

Ong’s representatives took another step further by conducting negotiations with Dr Chua. The negotiations are said to have lasted until 2am on one occasion, to get Dr Chua to agree to a peace plan.

On Wednesday evening, Ong’s political secretary Simon Lim called a press briefing to prepare editors for what was coming – a peace plan was in hand to end the months of mindless in-fighting, but no hints were provided.

The plan was so tightly guarded that none of the journalists who showed up for Thursday’s press conference had a clue as to what was ahead. It was only when Dr Chua strolled into Wisma MCA that they began to put together what would take place.

One news portal reported that there was no laughter or back slapping among the key players at the press conference, only polite smiles and handshakes.

That is only to be expected. In politics, results are measured along the lines of losses and gains, even if they claim everything is done in the name of the community and their members.

There is still much uncertainty as the Registrar of Societies (ROS) has yet to decide on the position of Dr Chua after the EGM. He could very well be reinstated as deputy president.

Current deputy president Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai, who is said to be pushing for the resignation of Ong, is said to be in a vulnerable position now. And if the ROS rules in favour of Dr Chua, he could be back as a vice-president.

But the larger picture is this: the Chinese community wants their leaders in MCA to stop feuding. They don’t really care how they do it; they want it done immediately, knowing that a prolonged squabble would make the party inconsequential.

The truce in MCA is just the beginning. The hard work must now begin to ensure that the Greater Unity Plan works.

For the MCA to move on, it has to redeem its image now. Plenty of goodwill and confidence have been shaken with the open attacks, and the media circus has wounded the party. Emotions are still raw and, for sure, the CC and the delegates are coming to terms with the unity plan. There is bound to be confusion and a display of unity is therefore essential.

There should not be any form of witch-hunt as the Greater Unity Plan can only work if everyone puts his heart and mind into it. Politics need not be a zero sum game.

The MCA leaders would need to explain to the delegates what the Plan is about. They owe it to the delegates, to put it bluntly.

The MCA delegates are a mature lot and have only the stability of the MCA in mind. Certainly, they will accept any effort to ensure the leadership is committed to working together.

Both Ong and Dr Chua have no choice but to produce tangible results. Enough time and energy have been wasted. They now have to catch up as the clock is relentlessly ticking away.

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