Despite a call for party elections to decide on the leadership, Liew has stuck to his guns on demanding that there should be no challenge to his leadership.
His chief rival for the post, Teo Chee Kang, the party’s recently suspended secretary-general, believes Liew has pressed the self-destruct button in his attempt to hang on to power.
Teo likened Liew’s recent move to eliminate all those party leaders who are against him as equivalent to severing the limbs and body of the party leaving merely a head to function as a party.
“The move by Liew to suspend the membership of 29 party leaders in the supreme council meeting on Sept 8, 2013 is simply madness,” Teo said yesterday, a day after Liew’s announcement.
“It is tyrannical and in total disregard of the majority of grassroot members,” said Teo of Liew’s suspension of the leaders including deputy president cum Api-Api division chairman Chin Su Phin.
Liew’s announcement affects four vice-presidents among whom is LDP Youth chief, Chin Su Yin.
Others suspended include LDP speaker, secretary-general, treasurer general, chief publicity officer, organising secretary, deputy secretary general, deputy treasurer-general, 14 other supreme council members and 15 division chairmen.
But Teo, whose name has been proposed for party president, questioned the legitimacy of Liew’s move to form a new supreme council and its meeting in Sandakan last Sunday to rubber-stamp his views.
“It is a lie to say that 35 attended the meeting. Even if the purportedly appointed new secretary-general, chief publicity officer, organising secretary and deputy treasurer general were counted, which is inappropriate, there were at most nine supreme council members in the meeting.
“Only four of the 35 supreme council members – the president, Charles Pang, Robert Lee Chew Fah and Kwan Wing Hung attended the meeting, of which only the president was elected, the other three are all supreme council members by appointment.
“It is preposterous that the fate of 30 of the party’s key office bearers, elected supreme council members and division chairmen representing members from 19 divisions have been determined by merely one elected leader,” he said.
Against the constitution
The party constitution, he said out, does not confer ‘powers’ to the supreme council to suspend its members. The only provision for suspension of a member is found in paragraph 44 of the constitution which states that:
“(c) The disciplinary committee shall have the power to suspend or expel any member when it considers that the interest of the party so requires, but before a member is suspended or expelled his conduct shall be enquired into by the committee and he shall be informed of the complaints against him and be given an opportunity to defend and explain himself;
“(d) In any case if the president considers that immediate action to suspend is desirable in the interest of the party, the president may suspend a member pending action by the disciplinary committee.”
Teo said: “In other words, the power to suspend or expel any member lies with the disciplinary committee, if desirable in the interest of the party. The president may only do so if the subject matter is already pending action before the committee.
“However before the purported suspension, no complaint against any of the suspended party leaders was made to the disciplinary committee which consists of Chin Su Phin, Lim Kong Yuk, Chin Yen Sang and myself.”
Teo maintained that all that has transpired has been done purely in the interest of the president who wants to cling on to his position despite losing the majority support.
“Such terminations and suspensions are clearly ultra vires the party constitution and therefore void. The party wants a leadership change.
“If Liew Vui Keong still thinks he has the support to lead the party, the only honourable thing to do is to have a free and fair election. Let the delegates decide as to who should lead the party,” added Teo.
By Queville To
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