Perak - PKR reps remain undercover, deny Quitting...

Neither Behrang assemblyman Jamaluddin Mat Radzi nor his Changkat Jering peer Mohd Osman Mohd Jailu turned up for their own press conferences Monday evening, but instead had their agents read out their statements.

In these statements, both denied they had quit either PKR or their positions as assemblymen and said they had been missing for the past few days because they were on medical leave.

Jamaluddin, 52, is also the Perak Entrepreneur Development and Cooperatives Committee chairman while Mohd Osman, 57, heads the State Tourism and NGO Committee.

They were charged in a Sessions Court on Aug 25 last year with allegedly receiving bribes over the application for a RM180mil housing project in Sri Iskandar in Perak Tengah. Their case comes up for hearing on Feb 10.

Earlier Monday, Perak state assembly speaker V. Sivakumar met with the state Election Commission director Ahmad Adli Abdullah at 8am.

He officially submitted the “resignation letters” of the two assemblymen so that by-elections can be called for the two seats within 60 days.

Jamaluddin had already denied he has resigned, saying the undated letters were signed last March “under duress.”

“I am still the state assemblyman for Behrang. I have not resigned. I will challenge the validity of the letter as it was signed under duress,” Jamaluddin said on Sunday, adding that he was discussing with his lawyers as to his next course of action.

He also denied rumours that he would be crossing over to Umno and Barisan Nasional, but confirmed that he would quit PKR and remain an independent.

The Perak Election Commission director confirmed with national news agency Bernama that he had received the letters from Sivakumar.

Ahmad Adli said that he would hand them over to Election Commission chairman Tan Sri Abdul Aziz Mohd Yusof for further action.

Asked on whether the declaration of the two seats’ vacancy were valid in view of Jamaluddin and Mohd Osman’s denials, Ahmad Adli said he would leave the matter to the chairman to decide.

“Today is a public holiday in Putrajaya (in conjunction with the Federal Territories Day). I think we can expect a decision tomorrow,” he told Bernama.

Perak Mentri Besar Mohamad Nizar Jamaluddin was at the Istana Kinta in Ipoh at 10am Monday to seek an audience with Sultan Azlan Shah.

He left after 25 minutes without speaking to reporters stationed outside the gate. He smiled, waved, and said, “Thank you, we’ll meet again.”

Letters accepted
The Perak Legislative Assembly however accepted the “resignation letters” signed by the two PKR assemblymen as “true and genuine.”

Senior exco member Datuk Ngeh Koo Ham said that with respect to the democratic system, the decision made by Sivakumar was binding and should be respected.

“Hence, we will deem the letters as true and genuine until proven otherwise.

“We are ready for the by-elections,” he said after a meeting with DAP state elected representatives.

Ngeh, who is also Perak DAP chief, said the two assemblymen “have already admitted to having signed such letters, regardless of whether they were undated.

“The letters are only questionable if they claim that they had not signed them and they were forged letters,” he said.

Ngeh, a lawyer by profession, added however that since the duo had admitted to signing the letters, the intention behind the letter would be binding.

“All documents signed in escrow are acceptable by law.

“When you sign something, you know what it is about and the law is all about putting into effect your intentions.”

Ngeh also refused to comment on whether all Perak DAP assemblymen too had to sign similar letters following the March 8 election.

“We did sign some documents but I have to look into their contents first,” he said.

'They're still members'
To add to the confusion, Perak PKR chairman Osman Abdul Rahman said the party still considered the two assemblymen as members.

“We have not received any resignation letter from them,” he told reporters at the PKR office in Ipoh.

Osman said that PKR was still unable to contact the two.

Jamaluddin, 52, was the Perak Entrepreneur Development and Cooperatives Committee chairman while Mohd Osman, 57, headed the State Tourism and NGO Committee.

They were charged in a Sessions Court on Aug 25 last year with allegedly receiving bribes over the application for a RM180mil housing project in Sri Iskandar in Perak Tengah. Their case comes up for hearing on Feb 10.

The Pakatan Rakyat state government is holding on to Perak with a razor-thin margin. It now holds 30 state seats against Barisan Nasional’s 27, with two seats up for grabs in the 59-seat State Assembly if by-elections are called.

Rumours were also rife that Perak state assembly deputy speaker Hee Yit Fong, the DAP representative for Jelapang, was going to resign as well and join MCA. Her “disappearance” Sunday caused another round of anxiety within Pakatan Rakyat.

DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng even came out with a statement stating that any Perak DAP elected representatives who was incommunicado for more than 24 hours without reason would find their seats vacated.

At a press conference late Sunday night at her residence, Hee hit out at Lim saying she was disappointed by his press statement, adding that he should have investigated first.

She also demanded Lim apologise to her constituents for causing the unnecessary uproar, and quashed claims that she had resigned from Pakatan and joined MCA or Gerakan.

Hee said she is still a DAP member and Jelapang’s elected representative.

Spate of meetings
PAS is calling for a meeting Monday to discuss the political developments in Perak, party deputy president Nasharudin Mat Isa said Sunday.

“I only knew about the disputed resignation of the two assemblymen last night and have yet to receive a full report on the matter, I do not think that there will be more (people resigning or defecting).

“As it is, we are calling for a meeting to discuss the matter. More will be known on Monday morning,” he said.

Perak Pakatan Rakyat will also be holding an emergency meeting at Mohd Nizar’s official residence at 3pm Monday.

After Umno’s Bota assemblyman Datuk Nasarudin Hashim crossed over to PKR on Jan 25, PKR and Umno have been involved in a psychological war, with both accusing each other of trying to pinch their assemblymen.

Source: The Star