Johari spared the rod?
Athi VeerangganPublished: Jun 19, 2009 12:32 PM | Updated: Jun 19, 2009 12:59 PM
PKR councillor Johari Kassim may have escaped party punishment for his open defiance early this month against the appointment of civil servant Mokhtar Mohd Jait to helm Seberang Perai Municipal Council.
Johari Kassim, the PKR councillor who openly defied Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng over the appointment of civil servants to municipal councils, seems to have gotten off scot free.
PKR councillor Johari Kassim may have escaped party punishment for his open defiance early this month against the appointment of civil servant Mokhtar Mohd Jait to helm Seberang Perai Municipal Council.
A source said the party national political bureau headed by Syed Husin Ali decided at its meeting on Wednesday not to pursue the matter anymore.
"The bureau was of the view that Johari (right) had acted in the interest of the party, not himself.
"The bureau decided not to go further with the issue and take any action on the councillor," said the source.
Penang Deputy Chief Minister 1 and state PKR deputy chief Mansor Othman is expected to inform to the state executive council of the decision.
Outcome shock
The outcome may have given Penang DAP leadership a jolt, which wanted PKR to take stern punitive action against Johari for openly opposing Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng's decision to retain senior civil servants as heads of municipalities.
The DAP-dominated Pakatan Rakyat state government has also appointed civil servant Tan Cheng Chui as the new Penang Island Municipal Council (MPPP) president.
Johari had led eight of PKR's nine councillors to boycott the swearing-in ceremony of former Northern Seberang Perai (SPU) officer Mokhtar as MPSP president on June 4.
Apart from Johari, the others were Che Mat Hashim, Amir Ghazali, Mahamad Hashim, Rynu Shanmugam, Goh Choon Aik, Mohd Kamil Abu Bakar and Zaini Awang.
Farid Arshad was the only PKR councillor to defy the boycott solidarity order.
Johari has argued that the boycott was in protest of the appointment of a civil servant to head the MPSP.
Orchestrated defiance
The vexed councillors claimed that the Pakatan state council had agreed in principle to appoint politicians to helm local councils.
It's learnt the councillors' defiance was orchestrated by certain party leaders.
In January this year, the Pakatan council decided to appoint politicians to helm both MPSP and MPPP, saying that it would be a step forward towards restoring the third vote - local government elections which had been suspended since mid-1960s.
The Pakatan council had also decided to drop the state five district officers as councillors and replace them with politicians.
The state government is expected to table a motion at the next legislative sitting to call on the federal government to restore the third vote.
In a subsequent arrangement, the DAP was supposed to take the MPPP president's post while PKR gets the MPSP position.
Mutiny on board
PKR had even decided to nominate Mansor, who was then not an elected representative, for the MPSP president's post.
After Mansor won the Penanti by-election and was appointed as DCM 1, the state PKR was said to have wanted to nominate state party secretary, Senator Mustafa Kamal Mohd Yusoff, a former public servant, to the post.
The open defiance of PKR councillors sparked a row within the state Pakatan.
Several of Lim's aides - Jelutong MP Jeff Ooi (right) and Komtar assemblyperson Ng Wei Aik - called for Johari's sack.
However, in an emergency meeting the next day, PKR state leadership flatly rejected DAP's demand and decided not to take action against Johari.
Some 30 PKR parliamentarians, assemblypersons and councillors at the meeting reaffirmed the party's stand to have politicians appointed as heads of local councils.
They also blamed the party's two executive councillors, Abdul Malik Kassim and Law Choo Kiang for inefficiency and miscommunications for failing to keep the state party leadership abreast on government affairs.
Although the state leadership decided that the Johari is issue was only a state matter, it nonetheless the referred it Syed Husin's bureau at the national level due to DAP's pressure.
Again, PKR declined to heed to Lim's demand.
For the record Johari has already attended several council meetings since the controversy.
PKR and DAP have nine and 10 councillors respectively each in municipal council.
A source said the party national political bureau headed by Syed Husin Ali decided at its meeting on Wednesday not to pursue the matter anymore.
"The bureau was of the view that Johari (right) had acted in the interest of the party, not himself."The bureau decided not to go further with the issue and take any action on the councillor," said the source.
Penang Deputy Chief Minister 1 and state PKR deputy chief Mansor Othman is expected to inform to the state executive council of the decision.
Outcome shock
The outcome may have given Penang DAP leadership a jolt, which wanted PKR to take stern punitive action against Johari for openly opposing Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng's decision to retain senior civil servants as heads of municipalities.
The DAP-dominated Pakatan Rakyat state government has also appointed civil servant Tan Cheng Chui as the new Penang Island Municipal Council (MPPP) president.
Johari had led eight of PKR's nine councillors to boycott the swearing-in ceremony of former Northern Seberang Perai (SPU) officer Mokhtar as MPSP president on June 4.
Apart from Johari, the others were Che Mat Hashim, Amir Ghazali, Mahamad Hashim, Rynu Shanmugam, Goh Choon Aik, Mohd Kamil Abu Bakar and Zaini Awang.
Farid Arshad was the only PKR councillor to defy the boycott solidarity order.
Johari has argued that the boycott was in protest of the appointment of a civil servant to head the MPSP.
Orchestrated defiance
The vexed councillors claimed that the Pakatan state council had agreed in principle to appoint politicians to helm local councils.
It's learnt the councillors' defiance was orchestrated by certain party leaders.
In January this year, the Pakatan council decided to appoint politicians to helm both MPSP and MPPP, saying that it would be a step forward towards restoring the third vote - local government elections which had been suspended since mid-1960s.
The Pakatan council had also decided to drop the state five district officers as councillors and replace them with politicians.
The state government is expected to table a motion at the next legislative sitting to call on the federal government to restore the third vote.
In a subsequent arrangement, the DAP was supposed to take the MPPP president's post while PKR gets the MPSP position.
Mutiny on board
PKR had even decided to nominate Mansor, who was then not an elected representative, for the MPSP president's post.
After Mansor won the Penanti by-election and was appointed as DCM 1, the state PKR was said to have wanted to nominate state party secretary, Senator Mustafa Kamal Mohd Yusoff, a former public servant, to the post.
The open defiance of PKR councillors sparked a row within the state Pakatan.
Several of Lim's aides - Jelutong MP Jeff Ooi (right) and Komtar assemblyperson Ng Wei Aik - called for Johari's sack.However, in an emergency meeting the next day, PKR state leadership flatly rejected DAP's demand and decided not to take action against Johari.
Some 30 PKR parliamentarians, assemblypersons and councillors at the meeting reaffirmed the party's stand to have politicians appointed as heads of local councils.
They also blamed the party's two executive councillors, Abdul Malik Kassim and Law Choo Kiang for inefficiency and miscommunications for failing to keep the state party leadership abreast on government affairs.
Although the state leadership decided that the Johari is issue was only a state matter, it nonetheless the referred it Syed Husin's bureau at the national level due to DAP's pressure.
Again, PKR declined to heed to Lim's demand.
For the record Johari has already attended several council meetings since the controversy.
PKR and DAP have nine and 10 councillors respectively each in municipal council.
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