Saifuddin defended the dismissal of Central Leadership Council (MPP) member Zakaria Hamid and ordinary member Ismail Dulhadi, saying there were no apologies for the party doing the right thing after finding out about the corruption allegations.
Party president Anwar Ibrahim, speaking to reporters separately here, disputed the contents of a letter demanding that he apologise for the sacking. He said two vice-presidents who signed the letter had said that the draft that they saw had not contained the demand for an apology.
The MACC allegation against Zakaria involved a RM20,000 public works contract to PKR leaders in the Bera area while the allegation against Ismail involved “marked-up prices” for a project in 2018, Saifuddin told reporters.
Quoting from the MACC letter, which was sent to the party on Oct 23, he said Zakaria was alleged to have told members that the project was part of a RM300,000 allocation by the housing and local government ministry.
“MACC’s prosecutors have deliberated on this case and had recommended that action be taken against Zakaria and Ismail under the party’s disciplinary and ethics code,” Saifuddin said. “So, what do we do? This is a comprehensive report by the MACC, after it was referred to the deputy public prosecutor.”
After the pair’s sacking was revealed last week, MACC deputy chief commissioner Azam Baki admitted that a letter recommending disciplinary action had been mistakenly sent to PKR. Azam said it was not MACC’s responsibility to advise political parties.
Saifuddin said PKR’s disciplinary board had deliberated on the MACC letter “and decided we ought to carry out a decision as recommended by the MACC”.
He said the case was unprecedented. “This is a new case. We have never faced a report by MACC, giving us full details, comments and other allegations. We thought we did not want to wait for the courts to decide,” he said.
He said he had written to Zakaria (about the dismissal) and Zakaria would have two weeks to make an appeal.
Anwar disputes demand for apology, says two vice-presidents unaware of it
Anwar said two vice-presidents, Sivarasa Rasiah and Tian Chua, had disputed the contents of a letter demanding that Anwar apologise for the sacking.
The letter, signed by the deputy president Azmin Ali, was supported by 20 members of PKR’s Central Leadership Council.
Anwar said that Sivarasa and Chua, both co-signers of the letter, “had never agreed to the part asking me to apologise over the sacking”.
“That was not in the draft. This should not be played around. Not all is true.”
He said he had no objection to the other part of the letter urging the disciplinary board to reconsider the sacking. “I do not have any objection to that. For me, PKR was formed to fight abuse of power and corruption.”
Anwar was here for the “Islam-Confucianism Civilisational Dialogue” held at the Spice Arena. He and Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow opened the event, which was attended by Saifuddin, who is state assemblyman for Pantai Jerejak.