Deputy minister in the Prime Minister's Department T Murugiah said he will not vacate his post within the time frame of 14 days requested by People's Progressive Party (PPP) president M Kayveas.

kayveas murugiah ppp Murugiah said since he has not received any notice to relinquish his cabinet post from the prime minister, he need not do so.

"He (Kayveas) must know the difference between executive powers and political powers...

"Anything that involve ministers, it falls under the jurisdiction and power of the prime minister, and he (Kayveas) cannot interfere," he told reporters at the Parliament Lobby here today.

The PPP crisis which hogged the limelight for all the wrong reasons, was put to rest when the Registrar of Societies (ROS) declared Kayveas as the rightful president of PPP in August, since Murugiah had also claimed himself as PPP president.

Murugiah who was sacked from PPP on May 16, 2009 had later held an emergency general meeting (EGM) on May 24 and was elected PPP president by the delegates, but the ROS ruled that his (Murugiah's) was not valid as it did not follow the party's constitution.

Honour promise on heritage allocation

In another development, the Penang government may complain about the RM25 million heritage grant issue to Unesco if the federal government does approve the allocation.

Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng said it would be the last resort if the federal government failed to

honour the promise made by former prime minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.

"We may have to take up the issue to the international arena if efforts to conserve the Georgetown heritage site are stifled by the federal government," he told the state assembly today.

He was replying to a supplementary question from Ong Chin Wen (PKR-Bukit Tengah) on the state government's alternative plan to acquire financial resources for the conservation work.

Lim said as Melaka was already given its RM25 million allocation for the heritage conservation works, Penang should not be denied the grant.

He said politics aside, the world heritage listing benefited not only Penang but also Malaysia. - Bernama