KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA: A controversy has broken out over the admission by MCA deputy president Datuk Seri Dr Chua Soi Lek that he had technically not resigned as the Labis MP, despite announcing he had done so.

Selangor MCA legal bureau chief Simon Lim said Dr Chua's admission was shocking and had "tarnished the good name of the party".

"As a responsible leader, he should not renege on his words, or else whatever he says has no meaning," said Lim in a statement here yesterday.

Dr Chua had told a press conference yesterday that he had sent a letter of resignation addressed to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi and then party president Datuk Seri Ong Ka Ting, but sent only a copy of the letter to the Parliament office.

According to Dr Chua, he was later informed by the then deputy speaker Datuk Lim Si Ching that he had to write to the Speaker in order to officially resign.

In the chronology of events released by Dr Chua, he said that before he could write to the Speaker, Parliament was dissolved on Feb 13.

Dr Chua had on Jan 2 last year announced that he was resigning from all his posts, including that as Labis MP, following his admission that he was the man filmed having sex with a woman.

Lim claimed that the sudden revelation by Dr Chua was aimed at getting himself appointed to a government post.

He also claimed that Dr Chua won the party deputy presidency because the central delegates were giving him a second chance, believing he had resigned from all posts.

The MCA Integrity Watch Group, in a separate statement, also criticised Dr Chua for his announcement.

"It is clear that Dr Chua is appealing to technicalities to circumnavigate the Federal Constitution, which bars MPs who have resigned from holding a seat in Parliament for five years," the group said in its blog (www.mca integrity.blogspot.com).

The group said this showed that Dr Chua had hidden the facts from the public, the Prime Minister and the then MCA president.

The group also questioned his credibility, saying he had unduly influenced the people into believing that he was willing to face the consequences and that he had already paid for his sins.

The group also cited the John Profumo sex scandal in Britain in the 1960s.

"Profumo, then the Secretary of State for War, resigned not because he had cheated on his wife by having a sexual relationship with model Christine Keeler, but because he lied to the British Parliament," the group added.