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Wanita MCA's delegates convene AGM despite
postponement
KUALA LUMPUR March 6 — The political upheaval in
MCA spilled over to the party”s women”s (Wanita)
wing when a group of its delegates decided to go
against its chief Datin Paduka Chew Mei Fun”s
directive by convening the annual general
assembly (AGM) today.
A total of 350 out of 2,037 delegates went ahead
with the AGM at Wisma MCA here as they felt it
was valid under the party constitution, said
Wanita secretary-general Heng Seai Kie.
“Today’s meeting complies with requirements of
Article 36 of the party constitution as more
than 200 representatives have registered for the
meeting.
"Therefore the Wanita MCA AGM should be held
accordingly,” she told the delegates after the
appointment of Kelana Jaya Wanita Chief Ong
Chong Swen as the new speaker to convene the
meeting.
"Although the MCA”s CC (Central Committee) has
decided on fresh polls to resolve the leadership
impasse within the party, the party”s AGM and
party polls are two separate matters,” she said.
— Earlier, Speaker Ooi Siew Kim had announced
that the AGM was postponed and walked out from
Dewan San Choon five minutes after the meeting
started at 9.10am, saying that she had received
a letter to postpone the AGM from Chew late last
night.
However, the announcement was met with boos and
objections from the floor as the delegates
demanded that the AGM should proceed.
The meeting resumed after 10 minutes and the
national organising secretary Tan Cheng Liang
later led the delegates to appoint Ong as the
Speaker.
Although only five debaters took the floor, the
debate and speeches revolved around the validity
of the AGM which they concluded was legal and
adhering to the party constitution. Some
delegates even questioned Chew”s motive to
postpone it saying that it had violated the
constitution.
On Friday, Chew, after chairing an emergency
meeting of the wing, had announced that the AGM
would be postponed following the resignation of
21 Central Committee (CC) members to pave way
for fresh party polls.
The meeting even turned emotional at one stage
when one of its Central Committee member, Chong
Sau Chan from Perak started crying on the stage,
causing all other members to sob.
“I am very sad that such thing has happened to
us in MCA. This thing shouldn’t have happened,”
Chong said.
The delegates present even claimed that there
was an attempt to sabotage the meeting by
locking the secretariat room by Chew’s faction
aimed at denying them access to the facilities
and the secretary-general”s reports kept in the
room.
The meeting also passed six resolutions which
included pledging full support for Prime
Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak”s 1Malaysia
concept.
The delegates also urged the government to
recognise the Unified Examination Certificate (UEC)
from private Chinese schools and provide
assistance for Chinese independent schools
besides requesting for the Tekun Nasional fund
to be expanded to everyone.
— BERNAMA
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