Kuala Lumpur, Jan 29 – Selangor Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) must be held accountable for treating the people of Selangor as nothing more than puppets following the sudden resignation of Kajang assemblyman Lee Chin Cheh yesterday.
Penang MCA Youth chief, Michael Lee said Lee’s confessed motivation for his resignation was actually to pave the way for opposition leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim to become Menteri Besar of Selangor, adding insult to the voters as they were only being used as pawns.
“Is Anwar considered so important to PKR that it is willing to sacrifice the rights of 39,000 voters in Kajang to the whims and mercy of PKR leaders?” he said in a statement issued here, Tuesday.
Selangor MCA secretary Ng Chok Sin said Lee’s resignation revealed the hypocrisy of PKR leaders and Kajang voters must reject them.
“Since 2008, one by-election had been held to simply enable Anwar to be the member of parliament for Permatang Pauh when his wife stepped side, and now as assemblyman for the Kajang state seat.
“These incidents indicate the political game PKR is willingly to play just to enhance Anwar’s power,” he said.
Wanita MCA Government Affairs Bureau head Kathleen Wong Mei Yin said PKR was determined to iconise Anwar rather than prioritise the “rakyat” (people) who voted for the party.
“Lee’s resignation makes a mockery of the democratic election system.
“Claiming that his resignation is for the general good and to strengthen Pakatan’s ability to run Selangor means that he views the mandate from the people who voted him to be state assemblyman as unimportant,” she said.
Anwar was today named as the PKR candidate for the yet-to-be-announced by-election for the Kajang state seat vacated by Lee.
Domestic Trade, Cooperatives and Consumerism Minister Datuk Seri Hasan Malek said PKR’s choice of Anwar as its candidate for the Kajang state seat indicated its dearth of leaders and it being overly dependent on Anwar.
“Already he’s (Anwar) an MP and now he wants to be a state assemblyman. Maybe there’s an ulterior motive…we don’t know,” he said after presenting intellectual property valuer certificates to 16 participants who completed their training, here, today.
Hasan, who is also an Umno supreme council member, said Lee resigned from his assemblyman post without thinking of the high cost another by-election would incur, despite the opposition harping on prudent spending of public funds.
Cheras Umno division chief Datuk Seri Syed Ali Alhabshe said Anwar appeared to be a greedy and power-crazy leader for going to the extent of asking Lee to resign as Kajang assemblyman so that he could contest the seat.
“All the gimmicks and issues have been created for his self-interest, while Barisan Nasional, on the other hand, should be focusing more on helping the rakyat,” he said.
In KUALA SELANGOR, Selangor Umno liaison chief Datuk Seri Noh Omar said Lee’s resignation was not just an abuse of democracy, but also an insult to the democratic system.
He said with his action, Lee was making a fool of the voters in Kajang who had given him the mandate and their trust to represent them.
“The opposition always talk about cutting costs to save on public funds. But obviously they themselves are not bothered about it, because having another by-election and which is unnecessary, will incur more costs.
“So what is the meaning of contesting a seat and then resign just to make way for someone else?” Noh said after presenting the early schooling aid of RM100 each to 115 pupils of SJKC Yit Khwan and 62 others from SJKC Bagan Pasir, today.
“Perhaps Anwar wants the MB post as it offers a higher salary than that of prime minister, a post he had so much desired,” he added.
Noh said the voters in Kajang should therefore open their eyes and realise not to be used again as pawns.
“They have become victims of the party’s (PKR) internal problems. It is Lee’s right to resign as assemblyman, but what about the rights of the voters who had given him their mandate?”
He said Lee’s action was a betrayal of the trust the voters had given to him.
In GEORGE TOWN, Penang Umno liaison chief Datuk Zainal Abidin Osman said if Anwar became Kajang assemblyman following a by-election, it would be a disadvantage for the people of Permatang Pauh, of which he is the MP.
He said following the announcement today of Anwar’s candidacy for the by-election, many of Permatang Pauh’s constituents expressed their concern and disappointment over the announcement as they already had difficulty to meet their MP for assistance and on other matters.
“They say if Anwar also becomes Kajang assemblyman, it will be more difficult for them to see him to obtain services due to the distance,” he said after chairing the Penang Federal Action Council meeting, today.
As for the impending by-election, Zainal Abidin said: “History will repeat itself as in the 2008 general election, Anwar’s wife PKR president Datin Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail won the Permatang Pauh parliamentary seat and later resigned to make way for Anwar to contest the seat in a by-election.
“This time (2014), the Kajang assemblyman (Lee Chin Cheh), from PKR, has resigned to also make way for Anwar.”
In the 13th General Election last year, Lee won the Kajang state seat with a 6,824-vote majority in a six-cornered fight against BN, Berjasa and three independent candidates.
Puteri Umno Malaysia head, Mas Ermieyati Samsudin said Anwar was cunning to take advantage of the conflict between Selangor Menteri Besar Tan Sri Abdul Khalid Ibrahim and PKR deputy president Azmin Ali, who is also Selangor PKR chairman.
“Lee’s resignation as Kajang assemblyman is due to Anwar’s craze for power as he clearly wants to be Selangor menteri besar.
“I am not surprised and had in fact, expected it, just like when his wife (Dr Wan Azizah) made way for him by resigning as Permatang Pauh member of parliament,” she said.
Mas Ermieyati, who is also the MP for Masjid Tanah, said due to the PKR leaders’ immature political action, the country would yet see another by-election, which would be a waste of money, energy and time when the country was on an austerity drive.
– Bernama
