MCA today held an emergency presidential council meeting to discuss the party's allocation in the new cabinet to be announced by Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak.

The meeting is believed to be necessitated by Najib's decision to reduce the number of MCA ministers in the cabinet.

At present the second biggest partner in Barisan Nasional has four ministers and six deputies. It is believed that Najib wants to reduce it to three ministers and four deputies.

bukit selambau ong tee keat pc at sepetang 040409 01 MCA president Ong Tee Keat told reporters after the 90-minute meeting that he hoped Najib would retain the party's present allocation.

"However, it is just our recommendation and it is the prerogative of the prime minister to decide on the new cabinet line-up," he told reporters after chairing the meeting at his Transport Ministry office in Putrajaya.

Ong had met Najib yesterday on the matter and is believed to have submitted a list of candidates for the new cabinet line-up.

Touching on his list, Ong said it was based on the party leadership hierarchy and the potential ministers' (and deputies') status in the Dewan Rakyat and Dewan Negara.

He however refused to comment when asked if the list included party leaders who were not members of parliament or senators.

"That is between me and the prime minister," he said.

It is believed that Ong had approved for Housing and Local Government Minister Ong Ka Chuan to be dropped and replaced by Kong Cho Ha who won the vice-president's post in the party polls last year. Kong is also presently deputy finance minister.

Ka Chuan, who is the brother to former president Ka Ting, lost in his attempt to be the deputy chief last year.

Another name which the party president has given the green light to be replaced is believed to be the Women, Family and Community Development Minister Ng Yen Yen, despite winning the vice-president's post.

It is learnt that Ong wanted to promote Youth chief Wee Ka Siong to be a full minister. He is presently deputy education minister.

Another person whom Ong is snubbing is the party's deputy president Dr Chua Soi Lek, who is neither an MP nor a senator.

However Najib's decision to strip the party of several slots in the cabinet has thrown a spanner in the works of Ong's attempts to promote his men to the cabinet.

No changes expected for MIC

Meanwhile, MIC president S Samy Vellu has also submitted his list of names to Najib this morning.

mic youth division launch pc 040908 samy vellu 01 Samy Vellu, just like the other Barisan Nasional coalition party leaders, also had a meeting with Najib on the matter in the Prime Minister's Department in Putrajaya.

"We can just give our proposals but it is up to the prime minister," he told reporters after the meeting.

Presently MIC has one full minister and two deputy ministers. They are Dr S Subramaniam (Human Resources Minister), SK Devamany (Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister's Department) and M Saravanan (Deputy Federal Territories Minister).

There have been calls from MIC, especially from its Youth wing, for another ministerial post to be given to the party.

The proponents for this claimed that the present set of one minister and two deputies was inadequate to serve the 1.9 million Indians in the country.

An additional minister, they claimed, would make it easier for the party to regain the lost Indian support for BN.

The party had two full ministers during the time of Hussein Onn. However, this formula later changed where one ministerial post was taken away in return for two deputy ministers. Subsequent prime ministers have retained this formula.

Samy Vellu was the sole MIC cabinet member until he lost his Sungai Siput parliamentary seat in the last general election. His place in the cabinet is now replaced by Subramaniam.

However, it is uncertain if Najib would entertain any request for an additional MIC minister in the cabinet, especially when he is expected to name a trimmed-down cabinet.

It is also believed that Samy Vellu had discussed with Najib the defeat suffered by MIC candidate S Ganesan in the Bukit Selambau by-election yesterday.

MIC insiders said that no big changes are expected for the party in the new cabinet line-up. However "one or two new faces may be promoted as parliamentary secretaries if PM decides to bring back these posts".

Big surprise for Sabah, Sarawak

Another component party leader who met Najib today was Sarawak Chief Minister and PBB president Taib Mahmud.

"I have submitted a list of names to the prime minister. I had a short discussion with him on the cabinet but the final decision is his," he told reporters at Putrajaya.

He believed that the new cabinet would have a surprise or two for the people of Sabah and Sarawak.