KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 24 — The threat of deregistration of the MCA has fuelled more anger among party leaders with stalwart Tan Sri Lim Ah Lek firing a harsh rebuke against the president.

Lim, a former deputy president, said the humiliation endured under the present leadership was “torturous and unbearable”.

“The party is in the depths of despair. Perhaps, they want to destroy BN first before quitting. May God bless MCA,” Lim said when contacted in Melbourne.

He was responding to the report lodged by the DAP against MCA to the registrar of societies (RoS) on Wednesday, a day after The Malay Mail expose involving six questionable members from a branch in Negri Sembilan.

The Malay Mail probe revealed that three members from Taman Tasik Jaya, including deputy chairman Chong Fong, were Gerakan members — a clear violation of the MCA constitution.

Two other members were unaware their names were on the list while one died of brain cancer two years ago. With six questionable members in its list, the 53-member branch could be deemed invalid as a branch is required to have a minimum of 50 members as per the constitution.

This led to talks of phantom members ahead of the divisional elections on Sunday.

Yesterday, Lim repeated his stand made several months ago of wanting MCA president Datuk Seri Dr Chua Soi Lek to quit the top post before the party goes further into the doldrums.

“Enough is enough. Here we have a leader with a video issue who is still hanging on despite the embarrassing controversies that have besieged the party in recent months,” he said.

“The recent general election was the worst outing and now with the possible deregistration of the party… this is humiliating.”

He said if the MCA leadership were to carry on with its questionable ways, Barisan Nasional  (BN) would suffer severe consequences and lose the confidence of the people in the next general election.

“If this carries on, BN will be doomed,” he said.

Lim, who served as party No. 2 from 1996 to 2003, questioned several decisions made by the party about its assets, mainly the reverse takeover deal between Scope Industries Bhd and Matang Holdings Bhd, unsettling talk of the party selling its land near the Tunku Abdul Rahman College in Setapak and the sale of the land in Bangi.

The Bangi land was donated by the late Tan Sri Loh Boon Siew as a training centre. There was a plan to move the party headquarters there and convert the present Wisma MCA in Jalan Ampang into a full-fledged retail and commercial building.

Dr Chua, however, had stressed the Scope-Matang deal was not an “asset stripping” exercise and dispelled rumours over the supposed land deal in Setapak.

In response, Lim said: “Why are we talking about assets when the party should be more bothered about the members? At this juncture, MCA needs political support and not monetary support.”

“Donations were collected for the proposed building in Bangi. What happened to the money collected? By right, it should be returned to those who donated,” he said.

Lim, 71, had in May called for the resignation of Dr Chua, saying the latter must accept full responsibility for the party’s poor showing at the 13th general election.

MCA only won seven out of the 37 parliamentary seats contested and 11 out of the 90 state seats in the polls.

Lim had then said: “I can forgive him (Dr Chua) for his indiscretion but I can never respect him as a party leader.”