Anwar: Memorandum calling for Zakaria’s sacking to be revoked was manipulated
GEORGE TOWN: PKR’s internal dissension does not look like its going to cease soon.
This as party president Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim sought to distance himself from 20 PKR members who urged him to revoke the sacking of two Central Committee members and apologise over the move, which allegedly did not follow procedures.
The demands were made in a memorandum submitted to the PKR Disciplinary Committee. The memorandum was signed by party deputy president Datuk Seri Azmin Ali. Anwar, however, claimed that the memorandum had been manipulated.
He said the number of party members who made the memorandum was not even 20 as one did not attend the meeting and another had since been sacked.
“But this morning (yesterday), (PKR vice-president) Tian
Chua, (PKR Central Leadership Council member) R. Sivarasa and a few others contacted me and told me that the statement (in the memorandum) was inaccurate.”
The memorandum called for Bera PKR division chief Zakaria Abdul Hamid’s dismissal to be revoked as it was not valid. It also called for Anwar to apologise over the sacking of Zakaria and party member Ismail Dulhadi.
The duo were sacked by the PKR Central Leadership Council due to alleged corrupt practices during party elections last year.
The memorandum was also signed by party vice-president Zuraida Kamaruddin, Tian Chua, Haniza Mohamed Talha, Hilman Idham, Dr Daroyah Alwi, Amiruddin Shaari, Datuk Mohd Rashid Hasnon, Sivarasa Rasiah, Rahimah Majid, Elizabeth Wong, Datuk Saifuddin Abdullah, Zakaria Abdul Hamid, Radzlan Jalaluddin, Datuk Dr Mansor Othman, Datuk Kamaruddin Jaafar, Azmizam Zaman Huri, Gan Pei Nei, Hee Loy Sian and Datuk Seri R. Santhara Kumar.
“The memorandum was partly true, in that it demanded the Disciplinary Committee to review (Zakaria’s sacking)…but it also appears to object to the party president and demand he apologise. That, according to the others, was not the (actual) statement (in the memorandum), which means that the statement was manipulated,” said Anwar at a press conference after attending a dialogue on Islam and Confucianism here yesterday.
On who could have altered the statement in the memorandum, he said he had no idea.
“They agreed with some parts of the statement, but some, they said, were not in the draft. So let them clear that first.”
Anwar said he had no problem with members making the appeal.
In fact, he had urged the Disciplinary Committee, headed by Ahmad Kassim, to review and refer any appeal to the party’s Central Leadership Council.
PKR has been embroiled in factional friction over the past year, with the ante upped in recent days by factions headed by Anwar and Azmin.
Anwar said the issue at hand was not a power struggle, but that of opposing injustice and corruption.
At the same press conference, PKR secretary-general Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail revealed details of a Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) probe into Zakaria.
He said PKR received a letter from MACC on Oct 23, which provided details of the alleged corrupt practices.
He said the authenticity of the letter was verified by MACC Deputy Commissioner (Operations) Datuk Seri Azam Baki.