PKR HQ safe, for now

PKR leaders and supporters across the country can let out a sigh of relief, after the auction for the building where their headquarters sit has been called off.

An eleventh hour notice sent to the party's treasurer-general William Leong late yesterday stated that someone had successfully applied for an injunction to block the sale from happening.

However, no one seems to know who had applied for the injunction.

When contacted by Malaysiakini, Leong (right) - also the Selayang MP - pleaded ignorance and said that the injunction was not taken out by PKR.

“It’s not by us. It probably had to be someone claiming to be the landlord or acting on behalf of the landlord,” he said.

But he refused to comment further, saying that he has not seen the court documents and does not have the details.

Leong, who is a lawyer, also said that it was not necessary that only a “highly interested party” can apply for an injunction of this sort.

“But that does not mean to say that any Tom, Dick and Harry can get the injunction.

“The courts are available to parties who can justify the causes sufficiently to the courts,” he said.

Who took out the injunction?

The auction for the two five-storey shoplot units in Tropicana was supposed to take place at the auctioneer’s office in Brickfields at 2.30pm today.

The bids would have begun at RM460,000 to RM1 million per unit, depending on the floor on which it is located.

Party secretary-general Saifuddin Nasution Ismail had also previously said that the total quoted auction price is at RM6.1 million, a figure which he considered to be “very high”.

The saga started when the landlord of the property from whom PKR is renting its premises, defaulted on the bank loans, resulting in the building being put up for auction.

The party is currently renting the five-storey premises from a company, at a monthly rental of between “RM10,000 and RM20,000".

However, several anti-PKR blogs have claimed that the party had defaulted on the rent.

Another news portal had reported that the ‘real landlord’ and beneficial owner, Butiran Nyata Sdn Bhd, had obtained an ex-parte injunction against the original owner of the building, Ainb Tech Sdn Bhd, and Affin Bank from auctioning the place until the inter-party hearing on June 27.

Much debate has also arisen over who truly owns the building, with speculation pointing to Soh Chee Wen, a one-time PKR financier-turned-foe.

In 2008, the party relocated from a tiny office in Brickfields to the building in upmarket Merchant Square Tropicana, Selangor.

PKR vice-president Tian Chua had previously said the party had signed a six-year lease, of which three years remains.