MCA members who submit baseless reports to the the party's disciplinary board are liable to be sued, board chairman Dr Fong Chan Onn warns.
He said reports to the board must be substantiated with evidence , failing which the complainants could be sued by those accused of wrongdoings.
The party had been bugged by quarrels, allegations and counter accusations for almost two years and an EGM last October that held so much hope to revive declining support for the party had, instead, made the situation worse.
At one juncture, the party was 'leaderless' when an extraordinary general meeting in October last year gave a vote of no confidence against party president Ong Tee Keat and, at the same time, also voted against accepting Dr Chua Soi Lek as deputy president.
At another point, there were three factions in the party - respectively led by Ong, Chua and second vice-president Liow Tiong Lai.
Liow's boycott of the Big Two
Chua, who was briefly without any position in the party, came back from the widerness following a Registrar of Societies' ruling and pledged his suppport for Ong.
Liow's group continues to oppose the two leaders, insisting that fresh party polls should be held and has told supporters to boycott functions attended by the Big Two.
The group has submitted to the headquarters four resolutions for the party assembly on March 7; the first of which seeks the delegates' endorsement for fresh polls.
The other proposals are aimed at changing the party rules to clip the president's powers, including powers to appoint or sack top party leaders.
The resolutions were signed by 10 MCA division chairmen and submitted to the headquarters by Serdang MCA chairman Liew Yuen Keong and Padang Besar division chief Loh Yoon Foo on Tuesday - the deadline for the party’s 191 divisions to submit proposed resolutions for debate at the party’s upcoming assembly.
"A lot of water has passed...'
Fong, who was appointed board chairman last month, urged party leaders and their followers to resolve their disputes fast to prevent a political deadlock during the assembly.
He said the bitter feud between Ong and and Liow "must end for the sake of party unity."
"A lot of water has passed under the bridge and MCA is still facing challenges of huge proportions.
"Our attitude is to let bygones be bygones. We are facing challenges of huge proportions in order to regain back the support Chinese community," Fong told a press conference at Wisma MCA here on Tuesday.
"We have very little time left before the next general election and the party should try its best to unite.
"Our suggestion to all party members is that we should try our best to serve the image of our party and not cause disrepute through their conduct and statements," said Fong.
Asked if Liow's boycot move had tarnished the party's image, Fong declined to comment.
On the cases before the board, he said it has 60 cases backlogged since 2008.
He declined to say if any of the cases involved top leaders.
No fresh disciplinary cases
He said since his appointment on Jan 30, the board had had not received any fresh cases.
The other members of the board are Chan Tse Yuen (deputy chairman), Lim Si Cheng, Lau Chih Siang and Ivan Chen Kai Hong .
The previous five-man, led by lawyer Ng Cheng Kiat, quit last November, after having its decision to sack Chua was overturned by delegates at last October's EGM.
In a related development, Ong told Liow and his followers to stop putting pressure on other members in their push for fresh party polls.
He said the group should not waste time harping on the issue but should instead focus on problems affecting the people.
“There is no point commenting on the issue any more,” he told reporters at a dinner with party veterans and Chinese associations here Tuesday night.
Chua not bothered by Liow
Chua, who was present, said he does not know the contents of the proposed resolutions submitted by the 10 divisions supporting Liow.
“I cannot be bothered because he (Liow) always wavers in his stand. Sometimes he boycotts events, sometimes he does not. Sometimes he selectively boycotts,” said Chua. - Malaysian Mirror
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