PETALING JAYA: Sin Chew Daily has learned that the most possible persons to run for the party's vice president posts include MCA central committee member Datuk Kong Cho Ha, Kedah state liaison committee chairman Datuk Chor Chee Heung and Johor state liaison committee deputy chairman Tan Kok Hong.

It has been understood that some of the central committee members from the ruling faction are keen to put the trio into one team in a bid to counteract the challenging faction.

Kong and Chor may be at an advantage, given their cabinet posts of deputy finance minister and deputy home minister respectively. Besides, they also have rich experiences and broad support bases within the party to their credit. As for state exco member Tan Kok Hong, he is best described as a regional leader with some real strength of his own.

It has been learned that since there has been a party tradition to reserve a VP post to the state of Johor, after Wee Ka Siong has confirmed that he will run for the MCA Youth chairman, Tan, who has a firm support base in Johor, is seen as the best candidate to dilute Chua Soi Lek's support.

It has also been understood that the selection of Tan as a vice president candidate has been made to prevent Johor, with the second highest number of votes in the country, from being fallen into the grasps of Chua Soi Lek and Chua Jui Meng. It is generally believed that if Tan represents the ruling faction to run for the VP post, he has a very good chance of undermining the support for the "Chua-Chua" pair.

Information from Johor also points out that, from what Tan has been doing in recent months, it is obvious that he is not too happy with Chua Soi Lek, and shows a tendency to tilt towards the ruling faction.

Meanwhile, Kong Cho Ha, hailing from the same state as Ong Ka Chuan, is seen as another suitable candidate to run for VP, given the fact that he was elected to the central committee with the highest number of votes during the last party election. Besides, if he runs for VP, he may help perk up the support for Ong in Perak, the third most important state for MCA.

Among the six MCA deputy ministers, Chor Chee Heung is perhaps the best VP candidate to represent the northern states of Penang, Perlis and Kedah, although there have been rumours that Chor himself may not be too keen to seek a higher party post. However, it is generally believed that Chua may eventually give in for the sake of the party.

In another development, Sin Chew Daily has found out that since MCA president Ong Ka Ting announced that he would not seek re-election in the party election, he has not been participating or coordinating in any of the election campaigns.

Besides, he is also not expected to give any candidate his blessings, and wants the delegates to choose their own leaders.

The MCA team in the making:

President: Vice president Datuk Ong Tee Keat (intention declared).
Deputy president: Secretary-general Datuk Seri Ong Ka Chuan (yet to declare).
Secretary-general (appointed): MCA Youth chief Datuk Liow Tiong Lai(yet to declare).
Vice presidents (four): Central committee member Datuk Kong Cho Ha, Kedah state liaison committee chairman Datuk Chor Chee Heung, Johor state liaison committee deputy chairman Tan Kok Hong (all yet to declare).
MCA Youth chief: MCA Youth secretary-general Wee Ka Siong (intention expressed).
Wanita MCA chairman: Wanita deputy chairman Datin Paduka Chew Mei Fun (intention declared).