Monday, August 24, 2009

Is Chua Jui Meng still caught up with his fight with Ong Tee Keat for the leadership of MCA?

Chua Jui Meng - I read with amusement that one media report described this man as now being a 'PKR leader'...
PKR leader Chua Jui Meng is baffled by Umno's by-stander attitude in not rising to the defence of embattled Transport Minister Ong Tee Keat.- Malaysiakini, 24/8/2009, Chua: It's baffling Umno not defending Ong

And, slightly more than a month ago, he was reported saying that he had no intention of leaving MCA...

When asked about joining PKR, he said he had been linked with such rumours for several years and claimed he was once approached by an opposition party.

However, he said he had no intention of leaving the MCA and would continue to fight for reforms within the party as stated in his election manifesto when he contested the MCA presidency in the party polls last year. - Star, 16/7/2009, Chua Jui Meng quits as Bakri MCA chief

And a day or so after that, he did join the PKR...let's now talk about honesty, integrity, etc...Or maybe not, for the important thing is that he has come over to PKR and the Pakatan Rakyat....

What about his people? Did they also follow him, quit MCA and join PKR? I have come across no such reports...[Remeber, this man stood for the Presidency of MCA in 2008, and lost "President: Ong Tee Keat won 1,429 votes vs Chua Jui Meng 917 votes"] Did his followers come over to PKR with him?

Anyway, looking at the recent Malaysiakini report, I believe that Chua Jui Meng has gotten over the fact that he is no more in MCA and the BN. He still seems to be hitting out at the person of Ong Tee Keat, the man who beat him at the last MCA elections... Remember, that the political battle that rages on in our country is a battle between MCA included BN and the Pakatan Rakyat. Thus, whether other BN leaders are supporting an embattled BN leader should not be an issue. The failure is BN's failure...full stop - not just the person named Ong Tee Keat, for if that is the case, then a resignation of Ong Tee Keat is all that is needed to resolve BN of its failing in the PKFZ issue ...I do not think so. The blame lies on the BN government ...past and present...and the call must be for the resignation of the BN government.

PKR leader Chua Jui Meng is baffled by Umno's by-stander attitude in not rising to the defence of embattled Transport Minister Ong Tee Keat.

Ong is facing attacks from within and outside his party MCA over the Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ) issue.

Chua, the former health minister, finds Umno's absolute silence over the crisis rather strange, which he described as un-Barisan Nasional like.

'Umno dominates and controls BN'.

"All these years, Umno leaders have come out in the open to defend their under-attack colleagues from component parties.

"But Umno's silence in Ong's case is deafening," he said, adding that scandal had cause public anxiety because it involved enormous sums of public funds.

This is the reason why, he said Umno leaders, who form the core of federal government leadership, cannot be so quiet about it.

"The prime minister (Najib Abdul Razak) did not defend his minister neither did the deputy premier (Muhyiddin Yassin).

"Did any other Umno minister defend Ong?

"The answer is no . . . not at all," Chua (left) said to newsmen after speaking at a dinner attended by some 2,000 people in Bukit Mertajam last night.

He said it was unprecedented for Umno leaders to just stand by and watch a defenceles Ong being subject to mounting attacks and pressure by his detractors over his handling of the Port Klang Free Zone scandal .

Punished for exposing truth

"Ong is the president of the second largest BN component party and no one from Umno is protecting him.

"I find it strange," said Chua, who lost is challenge for the MCA presidency to Ong in the party elections last October.

MCA president Ong is already facing a suit by Kuala Dimensi Sdn Bhd's (KDSB) chief executive officer and Bintulu parliamentarian Tiong King Sing over his outspoken and transparent handling of the PKFZ issue.

The suit, filed on Friday at the Kuala Lumpur High Court, claimed that Ong, the Port Klang Authority and its chairman, Lee Hwa Beng, had overstepped their authority by publishing the PriceWaterhouseCoopers report on PKFZ.

Ong (right) said despite Tiong's wild claims against him, the probe into the PKFZ scandal would continue.

The minister has also said that MCA central committee had unanimously supported his decision to sue Tiong, who claimed he had given RM10 million to Ong last year for party activities.

The MCA boss is expected to file the law suit against Tiong, the BN Nasional Backbenchers Club Chairperson, today.

Ong is also under attack from his deputy Dr Chua Soi Lek, who criticised his president for "dragging the party into a legal battle over his personal problem."

PKFZ, an integrated 400ha free commercial and industrial zone adjacent to Port Klang housing various facilities such as a warehouse, an office block and a four-star hotel, became embroiled in the controversy after it was revealed that the development cost had shot up from RM2.5 billion to RM4.6 billion.

The Port Klang Authority (PKA) had lodged a police report after a task force set up to investigate the controversy found billing discrepancies of between RM500 million and RM1 billion submitted by Kuala Dimensi Sdn Bhd, project turnkey contractor, and development contractor BTA Architects.

Chua complimented Ong for having the courage and determination to probe into PKFZ scandal despite being under pressure from various quarters.

"At least Ong is unafraid to expose the truth," he said.
- Malaysiakini, 24/8/2009, Chua: It's baffling Umno not defending Ong

Now, tomorrow if Ong Tee Keat comes over and join the PKR...the day after, we will be calling him 'PKR leader'...or 'Pakatan Rakyat leader'.

I wonder if Ong Tee Keat were to quit as MCA President by reason of this PKFZ scandal or that other allegation about RM10 million, and there are calls within MCA for the return of Chua Jui Meng to take up the reigns of MCA...will Chua Jui Meng return to MCA...and the BN?

I wonder...we wonder...Has Chua Jui Meng really changed? Or is he just wearing a different uniform?

Why do they jump? Because there is little or no political future in MCA (or UMNO) anymore if they stay put in that party...and after all, if they jump to a party like PKR...they are instantaneously elevated to 'party leader'...and will most likely be getting a 'safe' seat to contest in the next elections...

This is the problem with politicians..., and we wonder who we can trust... Would just changing parties transform a person... suddenly make him a 'reformasi' person? Once you jump...it makes it all the more easier to jump again...and again...


1 comment:

3 said...

you can count on Chua JM but not the other Chua CD.