DAP MP wants PKR councillors to quit
Athi VeerangganPublished: Jun 4, 2009 9:22 AM | Updated: Jun 4, 2009 10:57 AM
A Pakatan Rakyat parliamentarian has demanded the defiant PKR councillors, who boycotted the swearing-in of civil servant Mokhtar Mohd Jait as the Seberang Perai Municipal Council president, to quit immediately.
A Pakatan Rakyat parliamentarian has demanded the defiant PKR councillors, who boycotted the swearing-in of civil servant Mokhtar Mohd Jait as the Seberang Perai Municipal Council president, to quit immediately.
Jelutong MP Jeff Ooi also warned the eight defiant PKR councillors of stern disciplinary action if they failed to resign within the next 24 hours for their open rebellion.
"If they remain defiant, insisting on their lack of confidence against the new president, they cannot possibly perform their duties as councillors.
"If they can't agree with the state government's decision, they should resign," said Ooi, who is also the Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng's chief of staff.
Ooi also plans to submit a memorandum from all DAP elected representatives to refer all nine PKR councillors in MPSP for a review by the state executive council.
Eight out of nine PKR councillors in MPSP, led by party whip Johari Kassim, boycotted the swearing-in ceremony of 53-year-old Mokhtar at the municipality headquarters in Bukit Mertajam this morning.
An annoyed Ooi ticked off the councillors for challenging the authority of Lim's government and reminded them of their profound public duty given that their allowances were derived from ratepayers' money.
"The defiant councillors must submit to the fact that under the prevailing circumstances the appointment of the council president was prerogative and the right of the current Pakatan state government," he said.
He said the councillors shall not misconstrue that the positions of municipal council president were fiefdom of PKR or any other political parties.
Apart from Johari, the other PKR councillors who boycotted the event were Che Mat Hashim, Amir Ghazali, Mahamad Hashim, Rynu Shanmugam, Goh Choon Aik, Mohd Kamil Abu Bakar and Zaini Awang
Only Farid Arshad defied the boycott order.
Headache for Mansor
PKR councillors' boycott was to protest against the appointment of a civil servant to head MPSP. They even threatened to resign.
They claimed that Pakatan state council had agreed early this year that a politician would be appointed to helm MPSPS until local elections were introduced.
But they blamed Lim of running the state government without any consultation with Pakatan partners.
Ooi however reminded Johari and others that municipal councillors were appointed based on recommendations by their respective parties as an interim practice until laws were amended to conduct local government elections.
Since the state government was answerable to the people, he said no one can regard the post of council president as belonging to any political party, be it PKR or DAP.
Local PKR leaders have always bemoaned privately over DAP's dominance in political appointments to state consultative and statutory bodies.
The MPSP controversy is set to trigger a first open major crisis between DAP and PKR in the state.
It has given an immediate political headache to tackle for newly appointed Deputy Chief Minister 1 Mansor Othman, who was only sworn in yesterday.
Mansor, the PKR deputy state leader, is set to be quizzed by some PKR state committee members and elected representatives in a party meeting tomorrow for failing to delay the appointment of Mokhtar until the question of political appointment was resolved.
Jelutong MP Jeff Ooi also warned the eight defiant PKR councillors of stern disciplinary action if they failed to resign within the next 24 hours for their open rebellion."If they remain defiant, insisting on their lack of confidence against the new president, they cannot possibly perform their duties as councillors.
"If they can't agree with the state government's decision, they should resign," said Ooi, who is also the Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng's chief of staff.
Ooi also plans to submit a memorandum from all DAP elected representatives to refer all nine PKR councillors in MPSP for a review by the state executive council.
Eight out of nine PKR councillors in MPSP, led by party whip Johari Kassim, boycotted the swearing-in ceremony of 53-year-old Mokhtar at the municipality headquarters in Bukit Mertajam this morning.
An annoyed Ooi ticked off the councillors for challenging the authority of Lim's government and reminded them of their profound public duty given that their allowances were derived from ratepayers' money.
"The defiant councillors must submit to the fact that under the prevailing circumstances the appointment of the council president was prerogative and the right of the current Pakatan state government," he said.
He said the councillors shall not misconstrue that the positions of municipal council president were fiefdom of PKR or any other political parties.
Apart from Johari, the other PKR councillors who boycotted the event were Che Mat Hashim, Amir Ghazali, Mahamad Hashim, Rynu Shanmugam, Goh Choon Aik, Mohd Kamil Abu Bakar and Zaini Awang
Only Farid Arshad defied the boycott order.
Headache for Mansor
PKR councillors' boycott was to protest against the appointment of a civil servant to head MPSP. They even threatened to resign.
They claimed that Pakatan state council had agreed early this year that a politician would be appointed to helm MPSPS until local elections were introduced.
But they blamed Lim of running the state government without any consultation with Pakatan partners.
Ooi however reminded Johari and others that municipal councillors were appointed based on recommendations by their respective parties as an interim practice until laws were amended to conduct local government elections.
Since the state government was answerable to the people, he said no one can regard the post of council president as belonging to any political party, be it PKR or DAP.
Local PKR leaders have always bemoaned privately over DAP's dominance in political appointments to state consultative and statutory bodies.
The MPSP controversy is set to trigger a first open major crisis between DAP and PKR in the state.
It has given an immediate political headache to tackle for newly appointed Deputy Chief Minister 1 Mansor Othman, who was only sworn in yesterday.
Mansor, the PKR deputy state leader, is set to be quizzed by some PKR state committee members and elected representatives in a party meeting tomorrow for failing to delay the appointment of Mokhtar until the question of political appointment was resolved.
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