Najib wants Tan to quit Gerakan

Federal Territory Gerakan chairperson Dr Tan Kee Kwong came under fire today for joining the Pakatan Rakyat-led Selangor government to head a special task force on land management.

The man firing the salvo was no less than the Deputy Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak himself.

In a nutshell, Najib said that Tan cannot keep his position in the Barisan Nasional (BN) component party after joining the opposition coalition Pakatan Rakyat government.

Najib, also the BN deputy chairperson, said Tan's resignation was morally necessary.

He told this to reporters after a closed-door meeting with the National Students Consultative Council in Putrajaya today.

He also said that the BN was concerned over the development where two Gerakan leaders had joined the Pakatan government.

Najib hoped that other Gerakan members would remain in the party and have faith in the future of BN.

Before Tan's move over to the Selangor state government, his party colleague Lee Kah Choon had accepted the post of director of the Penang Development Corporation and InvestPenang from the DAP-led government in Penang.

Lee, a former Gerakan deputy secretary-general, has opted quit the party after coming under heavy criticism from BN leaders.

Still premature for Tan to decide

Yesterday, Selangor Menteri Besar Abdul Khalid Ibrahim announced Tan's appointment to the task force which will "study and analyse state land administration, policies, issues and problems as well as ways to resolve land problems in Selangor".

In an immediate response, Tan (left) thanked the deputy prime minister for his “friendly advice”.

“My next move is to discuss my possible action with party acting president Dr Koh Tsu Koon and secretary-general Chia Kwang Chye,” he told Malaysiakini when contacted.

Tan stressed that his role in the task force was not in any way unique as land problems exist in all states, whether it is under BN or Pakatan rule.

“So please don’t politicise the matter,” said Tan, who is former land and cooperative development deputy minister.

Tan cited Penang as an example of why he had decided to help the Pakatan government in Selangor on resolving land problems.

“The e-tanah (e-land) project in Penang had failed miserably. We are talking about RM60 million worth of taxpayers money going down the drain and we want to look at what happened there so that this can be avoided in the future,” he said.

The e-tanah project, conceived and implemented in 2003 by the federal government, is an online system aiming at reducing red-tape on land-related matters, including the payments of fees and taxes.

Penang was the first state to adopt the system. The Selangor’s task force which will be jointly headed by Tan will, among others, be evaluating the e-tanah system in the state.

Najib to meet Dr M 'anytime'

It is well-known that Tan has not been happy with the party and has openly defended Lee for his decision to work for the Penang state government.

Tan was dropped by the party from contesting to retain the Segambut parliamentary seat in the March 8 general election. His replacement lost the seat to the DAP.

Meanwhile, Bernama reported that Gerakan had sent a show cause letter to Tan on why disciplinary action should not be taken against him following his decision to join the Selangor government.

Party secretary-general Chia said the letter, which was signed by him, was sent to Tan at noon.

"We have issued a show cause letter. The next course of action would be decided after that," he said.

On another matter, Najib was also asked if he would be meeting former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad after the latter had declared that he was quitting Umno.

To this Najib merely said: "Anytime, anytime."