KOTA KINABALU: Sabah Progressive Party (SAPP) has decided to pull out of the 14-member Barisan Nasional Government, taking away two MPs and at least two of its four assemblymen who will remain independent.
The decision to pull out was made at the SAPP supreme council meeting where its president Datuk Yong Teck Lee obtained the support of nearly all of its 35 members and declared that SAPP was not joining Pakatan Rakyat.
SAPP president Datuk Yong Teck Li and his supreme council members raising their hands after announcing SAPP's pullout from Barisan Nasional at their HQ in Luyang yesterday. - NORMIMIE DIUN / THE STAR Yong said his party would remain independent in the opposition bench until a time came when SAPP was ready to be back in government.
Opposing Yong’s pullout move was SAPP deputy president Datuk Raymond Tan (Deputy Chief Minister and the state Infrastructure Minister), vice-president Jimmy Wong (political secretary to the Chief Minister Datuk Musa Aman) and Elopura assemblyman Au Kam Wah.
Tan said he would submit his resignation from the state Cabinet to Musa, and all three would announce their position within the party and future plans, including the possibility of setting up a new party today.
SAPP is heading for a split with a third of its 300 branches from the east coast expected to follow the three.
With Yong at the press conference were SAPP’s MPs Datuk Eric Enchin Majimbun (Sepangar), Datuk Dr Chua Soon Bui (Tawau), assistant state Finance Minister Melanie Chia (Luyang) and Datuk Liew Teck Chan (Likas). The Luyang and Likas assemblymen will remain as independents.
Yong did not rule out cooperation with the Pakatan Rakyat parties, adding: “We are ready to talk to anyone who will help us achieve our agenda for Sabah.”
He said Barisan had excluded SAPP from six meetings since their call for a no confidence vote against the Prime Minister on June 18, adding that this had effectively terminated the membership of SAPP.
“Barisan had lost its BN Spirit,” he said.
2) INVOKE the Internal Security Act to detain the MPs or any other current Pakatan MPs;
3) INVOKE emergency laws or police powers or suspend the Constitution or dissolve Parliament; and
4) IMPOSE roadblocks or impede MPs from going to Parliament or any institutions of government.
Syed hamid Albar may have something to say about this, go on... The truth is outside there.......
http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2008/9/14/nation/2026578&sec=nationOf that list, 17 items would then be selected during festive seasons to be placed under the Festive Season Price Control Scheme, and be gazetted under the Price Control Act 1946 to make them price controlled items.
“The main purpose for this scheme is to ensure that there is enough food supply during the festive season. “If there is enough supply, then there is no reason for prices to go up,” Minister Datuk Shahrir Abdul Samad told reporters yesterday.
He said the scheme would be enforced for 15 days a week before and after the holidays which include Hari Raya Aidilfitri, Deepavali, Christmas, Chinese New Year, Hari Gawai and Hari Kaamatan.
Previously, food items were controlled for 38 days during the festive seasons.
He said for Hari Raya Puasa, the controlled prices would be enforced from Sept 24 to Oct 8.
However, he would only announce the ceiling prices next week.
Among the planned controlled food items for Hari Raya and Deepavali are chicken, beef, mutton, mackerel, eggs, cabbage, red chillies, grated coconut, red pomfret, tomatoes, white pomfret, and white prawns.
On petrol prices, Shahrir said that the price of crude oil was forecast to remain below US$100 (RM344) per barrel until the end of the year.
“Petrol prices will go down in October if fuel prices continue to decline,” he said.
Making the call during a press conference at Menara Umno yesterday, Ahmad said Gerakan acting president Tan Sri Dr Koh Tsu Koon should also be stripped of his post as the state Barisan chairman and the post should be given to the MCA.
He said this was because a few Chinese leaders from the Gerakan party including Dr Koh had deliberately taken advantage of the situation and turned it into a racial issue “to hide their own weaknesses”.
He said Dr Koh’s leadership had also resulted in the state Barisan failing miserably in the March 8 general election.
“He is a leader who is really good at tai chi but I would also like to remind everyone not to forget that the Malays are equally good at silat,” he said.
The press conference was called by leaders and representatives of the 13 Umno divisions here led by state Umno liaison committee deputy chairman Datuk Abdul Rashid Abdullah and secretary Datuk Azhar Ibrahim.
Ahmad said Dr Koh should apologise not only to the Malays and Muslims but also to the Chinese in the country for creating so much tension.
“I want Koh and Gerakan to be responsible in case any untoward incidence takes place in our country.
“I hope we will not be pushed against the wall, ” he said, as supporters thumped tables and shouted “Hidup Melayu”.
Ahmad also said that Dr Koh’s claim that their relationship soured after he (Ahmad) was not re-appointed as a Penang Municipal Councillor in 2006 was untrue and was “another tactic of his to character assassinate me”.
He reiterated that he would not apologise for his remark at a ceramah during the Permatang Pauh by-election on Aug 23, and was prepared to face the consequences.
Ahmad said that he was happy that the Prime Minister was satisfied with his explanation after the latter chaired the state Umno liaison committee meeting on Sept 6.
He urged all quarters including Gerakan to stop issuing statements making demands on Barisan and Umno over the issue.
At the end of the 40-minute press conference, several supporters brought down from the wall a poster of Dr Koh and tore it to pieces.
When contacted later, Ahmad denied any role in the incident.
“There were no such instructions. The other division heads and I were in the hall,” he said, adding that the supporters who brought down the picture were not from the Bukit Bendera division.
Former Selangor Umno youth leader Mazlan Harun and Muar branch leader Datuk Kadar Shah handed over between 20 and 30 copies of photographs to the ACA office here yesterday.
Kadar Shah, the son of the late Umno permanent chairman Tun Sulaiman Ninam Shah, said the pictures showed Abdullah allegedly holding closed-door meetings with Umno members and leaders.
“We have other evidence, which we have not given ... if this second report is not taken seriously, we will lodge another report or maybe take legal action,” he said after handing over the evidence to ACA.
Asked what was shown in the pictures, he said: “Of course he was campaigning ... what else?” he claimed.
Kadar Shah claimed that Abdullah had met several state Umno leaders several times between May 3 and June 29.
“Why should I apologise? I didn’t do anything wrong. Those who do wrong should apologise but I haven’t done anything,” Ahmad said when The Star met him outside his Bayan Baru office yesterday.
He, however, refused to comment on whether the press misquoted him.
Sounding calm and collected on the phone, he said a full statement on what transpired would be released after a Penang Umno liaison meeting tomorrow.
Man in the news: Ahmad gesturing as he replies to a question in Bayan Baru yesterday. He said he had been leading a sepak takraw team to a tournament in Bangkok. He added that he would not say much at present, but wanted to clear up the issue of reporting to the police.
Police are currently investigating five reports lodged against Ahmad under the Sedition Act 1948 for uttering the remarks at a ceramah on the eve of the Permatang Pauh by-election.
He said there were reports of his going to the Bukit Mertajam police station on Wednesday night (to make a statement).
“I want to make it clear that I never told anyone or informed anyone that I would be there. It was their assumption,” he said.
Ahmad recorded a statement at the police contingent headquarters in Penang Road at about 10pm the same night while pressmen from television, online and print media were waiting for him on the mainland.
Asked where he had been over the last few days, Ahmad confirmed that he had been leading a sepak takraw team to a tournament in Bangkok.
“My phone has been on and off, but a lot of my anak buah (supporters) have been calling me, so maybe that’s why it has been hard to get through,” he said.
On the alleged misappropriation of funds involving now-defunct company Popular Profile Sdn Bhd (PPSB), Ahmad said he had resigned before any action was taken on the company.
“This issue has nothing to do with me. Action is taken on a company, not on a personal capacity. Moreover, I resigned from the company on Sept 1, 1998. What happened after that, I don’t know.
“The Chief Minister (Lim Guan Eng) shouldn’t be using his political muscle and power to attack me,” he said, adding that he would not say more on the land deal until he had checked the details.
Lim had recently attacked Ahmad on a 1997 land deal involving PPSB, in which Ahmad had been a director. Lim alleged that the company had cheated the state of RM500,000 in a deal involving 4.2ha of industrial land in Bukit Minyak.
“So, please pray that the fuel prices won’t climb again or better yet, for it to drop further,” said Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.
Abdullah said that if world market prices for fuel remained stable at US$109 for the rest of the year, Malaysians might even enjoy another 15 sen drop below the current rate of RM2.55.
“We will have to wait until the pump prices are revised come Oct 1 or by the middle of that month under our calculation formula.
“If world prices remain at US$109 per barrel until the end of the year, we can reduce prices by another 15 sen,” he said here yesterday.
However, he warned that prices could also go up if the crude oil prices increase.
On the ringgit weakening against the US dollar, Abdullah said the Government would not intervene.
“The value has dropped but not to a level that is too drastic or worrying.”
Backbenchers Club chairman Datuk Seri Tiong King Sing said the trip was the brainchild of the club but rejected suggestions that it was organised because of the Sept 16 claim.
“The trip came about after a few of our members got talking. We wanted MPs to update themselves with the latest information about agriculture and high-tech food production so that we can debate better on the Budget when Parliament sits again in October.
“This is the best time for the trip although it is the fasting month because after that, Hari Raya celebrations begin and Parliament will meet again,” he told The Star here yesterday.
Opposition Leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim has been claiming that his plan to topple the Barisan government by Sept 16 was on track. He claimed that some 30 Barisan MPs, particularly from Sabah and Sarawak, were ready to defect.
It is understood that the trip, said to take place between Sept 7 and Sept 19, will be open to all MPs, especially those whose constituencies have agricultural concerns, and not just MPs from Sabah and Sarawak, said to be targets of PKR.
Tiong, the Bintulu MP, maintained that the trip “had nothing to do with Sept 16”, saying it was only natural to ask MPs to submit their passports for the purpose of visa applications and ticket bookings.
He said the club had not finalised how many MPs would be going on the trip or the actual date.
“We haven’t also decided on the destination country. You know me, I only like to announce something when all the details have been confirmed,” he said.
He stressed that it was not an “overseas retreat” but a study trip for MPs.
Deputy Backbenchers Club chairman Datuk Bung Mokhtar Radin also confirmed there was such a trip to explore agricultural technology.
“Probably, the trip will be over this weekend. But we have not decided how many MPs will be participating,” the Kinabatangan MP said.
Kapit MP Alexander Nanta Linggi said he had been asked by fellow MPs from Sarawak if “he was available”.
“I told them that I was going on a trip with (Plantation Industries and Commodities) Minister Datuk Peter Chin Fah Kui on his palm oil campaign mission overseas to London and Belgium. They left it at that.”
Kimanis MP Datuk Anifah Aman and Muar MP Razali Ibrahim said they had not been contacted by anybody on the proposed trip.
“I don’t know anything. I’ve been in my constituency the whole day and Parliament has not asked for my passport,” said Anifah, who is known for his vocal views during debate in Dewan Rakyat.
Pasik Salak MP Datuk Tajuddin Abdul Rahman also denied being asked to go for the trip.
“What trip? I was not approached for this,” he added.
Pusrawi Hospital’s Dr Mohamed Osman Abdul Hamid, reaffirmed statements he had made in a statutory declaration he had filed on June 28, saying that he had found no evidence of sodomy in his examination.
His statutory declaration was leaked to Malaysia Today and published in the news portal on July 28, after which the Myanmar national took one month’s leave from the hospital and apparently fled the country.
At a press conference at the Bar Council auditorium here on Thursday, Osman said he wanted to set the record straight and end media speculation.
He reaffirmed the contents of the statutory declaration.
Osman said he went on leave as he came under pressure following a police investigation into his medical check-up on Saiful, but dismissed claims that he was worried for his safety.
He also said that he did not know how his medical report, protected by patient-doctor confidentiality, became public.
Anwar, now MP of Permatang Pauh, has been charged with the offence. He has denied the allegations, claiming it was part of a political conspiracy against him.
Pusrawi earlier said it had sacked Dr Osman for failing to turn up for work after his one-month leave had expired.
When asked if he was still employed, Dr Osman merely said he "was going back to work."
State deputy police chief Senior Asst Comm (I) Datuk Salleh Mat Rasid said an investigating officer contacted the Umno leader early this week, asking him to turn up at the Bukit Mertajam district police headquarters on Tuesday.
"But he never turned up and the interview was rescheduled to today (Wednesday). Five reports have been lodged against him in George Town, Bukit Mertajam, Kuala Lumpur and Petaling Jaya over the past week.
"Once Ahmad gives his statement, we will wrap up our investigations by Friday as most of the statements have been taken. The file will then be sent to the Attorney-General in Putrajaya for further action," he told reporters at a press conference Tuesday morning.
SAC Salleh urged the people not to raise the issue, which is being investigated under 4 (1) (b) of the Sedition Act 1948, and asked that the public let the police do their work.
Ahmad had allegedly called the Chinese pendatang (immigrants) at a ceramah while campaigning for the Permatang Pauh by-election. His statement caused furore and condemnation from various political parties both within the Barisan Nasional and outside.
Attempts to contact Ahmad over the past few days to get his side of the story have been unsuccessful.
A check by The Star around noon Wednesday found Ahmad's bungalow in the exclusive Robina Park in Butterworth deserted.
The Election Commission's Secretary General Suthiphon Thawichaikan said the commission "unanimously voted to dissolve'' the People's Power Party. The case now will be forwarded to the public prosecutor's office to determine whether it should be submitted to the Constitutional Court for a final ruling.
The commission's ruling follows allegations of electoral fraud against the party during the December election, in which it won a majority of seats. It later formed a government led by Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej.
The ruling is likely to intensify the pressure on Samak, the 73-year-old leader who has so far fended off demands from tens of thousand of anti-government protesters to resign. They accuse him of corruption and of being a proxy for former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra who was ousted in a 2006 coup.
Protesters have occupied the prime minister's office compound since storming the grounds a week ago. They have vowed to remain on the grounds of government house until Samak resigns.
Their campaign sparked clashes overnight with pro-government supporters that left one person dead and prompted Samak to impose a state of emergency in Bangkok. -- AP
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