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KUALA LUMPUR, 6 MARCH, 2010:
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.
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