PETALING JAYA, Feb 1 — An effort to unseat MCA president Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai is gaining momentum as the party is set to be drawn into another bruising internal strife.

Insiders reveal there is a move to call for an extraordinary general meeting (EGM) to challenge Liow’s leadership.

The latest move has surprised many as MCA has been dubbed a rather peaceful component party within Barisan Nasional (BN) in recent times. The last thing it needs is another public factional fight.

Sources said the EGM is being called to cast a vote of no-confidence against Liow en route to pushing for fresh polls “to return the confidence of the people in MCA”.

The party’s constitution requires those calling for an EGM to obtain the support of at least one-third of the 2,400 central delegates.

Insiders estimate those who did not vote for Liow at the last party elections two years ago numbered more than one-third of the delegates.

“Those wanting to call for an EGM can easily do so based on the number of votes polled by Liow’s opponents in the December 2013 elections,” said a former central committee member and supporter of former president Datuk Seri Ong Tee Keat.

Liow won with an advantage of 186 votes to defeat challenger Gan Ping Sieu, who polled 1,000 votes for the presidency.

Ong only picked up 160 ballots from the delegates while incumbent president Tan Sri Dr Chua Soi Lek did not seek re-election following the party’s poor performance in the 2013 general election.

Datuk Seri Wee Ka Siong was named deputy president after he defeated former vice-president Datuk Donald Lim Siang Chai by a 481-vote majority.

The 2013 MCA election saw the members split into several factions and the morale of the party was low after the hammering it received in the general election. MCA only won seven of the 37 parliamentary seats and 11 of the 90 state seats contested.

Observers lauded the 2013 party election results, as no single faction dominated the outcome.

“The central delegates were wise and did not follow any cai dan (menu) and instead voted for the sake of the party,” said a former MCA parliamentary candidate who was defeated in the 2013 general election.

“The move to oust Liow is the last thing MCA needs. The party’s image is already low among the electorate. Another party struggle will only isolate MCA from the Chinese community,” he added.

The retired division leader, who was aligned with Dr Chua’s camp then, admitted those engineering the EGM were from his side.

Those aligned to Dr Chua are his son and party vice-president Datuk Chua Tee Yong, Gan and Lim. Those formerly aligned to ex-president Tun Dr Ling Liong Sik are also in this camp.

It is learnt the matter came to a head at the last central committee meeting when several leaders aligned to Liow accused Tee Yong and his supporters of organising the petition for the EGM.

Insiders said Tee Yong and his supporters did not react to the accusation but neither did they deny it. Many of them have also already signed the petition.

The petitioners are demanding for the EGM to be held on the same day as MCA’s 67th anniversary celebrations on March 5 — the same day the leadership plans to explain the new party election process that will enlarge the voting delegates from 2,400 central delegates to 40,000 divisional delegates.

Liow’s detractors are claiming he is ineffective and has failed to get any concession from Umno. However, the president’s men have countered by saying those petitioning are only seeking to grab power.

“If they don’t do it now, they will not be able to do it later as the number of delegates would become 40,000 and it would be difficult to garner 13,000 signatures,” said another central committee member.

Tee Yong and others in his group are trying to repeat their success in 2009, when they got an EGM to cast a no-confidence vote against Ong’s presidency and to reinstate Dr Chua who was sacked from the party a year earlier.

The no-confidence motion against Ong was carried by 14 votes as was the one to reinstate Dr Chua.

“They are hoping to repeat that success but it may come at a heavy price for MCA,” said ex-central committee member aligned to Ong.