> Tee Keat and Soi Lek the Winners

Datuk Ong Tee Keat has been elected MCA president with Datuk Seri Dr Chua Soi Lek as his deputy.

The 55th MCA General Assembly at Wisma MCA saw the 2,378 delegates give the Transport Minister an expected victory (1,429 votes to 917) over former vice-president Datuk Chua Jui Meng.

Immediately after the result was announced, Tee Keat left in the middle of a swarm of supporters and reporters to hold a press conference at the nearby Hotel Nikko.

"The important thing is to expedite reform plans for the party," he said.

The Transport Minister also called on all contestants to move on whether they won or lost and to "put aside differences we might have in the past, put our hands to the plow and move forward."

Jui Meng said he would take a break to "decide if I will continue in politics" and claimed that "a bloc of votes promised did not come."

Soi Lek upset the status quo by defeating former secretary-general Datuk Seri Ong Ka Chuan, brother of outgoing president Datuk Seri Ong Ka Ting.

Soi Lek polled 1,115 votes to Ka Chuan's 1,001. Also losing out in the contest for Number Two were former vice-president Datuk Donald Lim Siang Chai (209) and Tanjung division deputy chief Lee Hack Teik (10).

"It's not a question of vindication," Soi Lek replied when asked to comment on his return to party leadership 10 months after resigning in the fallout of his sex DVD scandal.

"I still can contribute to save the party and that is why I decided to contest. It shows that the party is wise in choosing who can contribute."

The former health minister echoed his new president's call to close ranks and explained that the bouts of criticism he and Tee Keat exchanged prior to the polls was "common in politics."

Calling it a strategy to size down competitors, he said that "in a big party like MCA, leaders can agree to disagree, reach a consensus and work together."

Observers are pointing to the debate between Soi Lek and Lim on Tuesday which was finally brodcast over ntv7 last night as a key factor in swinging the tide.

Ka Chuan had little to say as he digested his defeat and said that he needed some time to do a post-mortem to assess the loss.

"I will leave it to the leaders to decide my fate but for now I will continue with the responsibilities I already have," said the Housing and Local Government minister.

Also elected as vice-presidents were former Youth chief Datuk Liow Tiong Lai (1,725), Deputy Home Minister Datuk Kong Cho Ha (1,798 ) and Johor deputy chief Tan Kok Hong (1,329 ).

Former Wanita chief Datuk Dr Ng Yen Yen (1,659) created history by becoming the party's first female vice-president.

She attributed her win to "all the women in the divisions who were my generals."

"We are the first component in BN to have a female vice-president. It is a political watershed and I hope that all young women can aspire to be a deputy president one day and then president. We are getting nearer."

The results appear to show that delegates are casting aside the regime of Ka Ting as the clear supporters of the outgoing president were defeated.

Datuk Theng Book, the pro-tem chairman of Save MCA, a group that has aimed to remove Ka Ting's influence from the party, claimed that the results showed that Ka Ting has finally been ousted.

"Our objective is accomplished," he announced and added that the party could now move forward with repairing itself.

The meeting of Save MCA's objective also softened the feeling of defeat for him as he failed in his bid to claim a central committee spot - The Malaysian Insider.