theSun | WEDNESDAY APRIL 1 2009
news without borders
by Humayun Kabir
newsdesk@thesundaily.com
IPOH: Judicial Commissioner
Ridwan Ibrahim yesterday recused
himself from hearing the suit brought
by three assemblymen against Perak
State Assembly Speaker V. Sivakumar
for declaring their seats vacant.
It was the second time that
Ridwan had declined to hear Siva-
kumar’s case.
The first was on March 24 when
he recused himself from hearing the
suit brought by Mentri Besar Datuk
Zambry Abdul Kadir and his six state
executive councillors against their
suspension order by Sivakumar for
contempt of the House.
Ridwan transferred that case to
High Court (1), which will be heard
tomorrow
Yesterday, the lawyers for Siva-
kumar and reporters were surprised
to read a notice on the door of High
Court (4) that the second case has
been transferred to High Court (6).
No explanation was given to the
lawyers about the transfer of the case
to another court but it is believed
MASRY CHE ANI/THESUN
Say cheese ... Gerakan president Tan Sri Dr Koh Tsu Koon takes a photograph
of BN candidate for the Bukit Selambau state by-election Datuk S. Ganesan
during a meet-the-people session at a food court in Taman Ria Jaya.
PKR candidate hits back at detractors
by Himanshu Bhatt
newsdesk@thesundaily.com
SUNGAI PETANI: PKR’s
N.25
candidate in the Bukit Selam-
bau state by-election, S. Maniku-
mar, has hit back at his detractors
for criticising his selection, accusing
them of harbouring a personal
agenda against him.
The 35-year old entrepreneur,
who speaks fluent Kedah-style
Malay and has been a member of
the party’s Merbok division for the
last two years, said he was merely
answering the call to serve the
reformation movement under PKR
to the best of his abilities.
“I cannot please everyone. They
(his critics) have their own styles.
We have our own principles and
dignity,” he said at the PKR centre
PR given chance but failed, says Murugiah
by Giam Say Khoon
newsdesk@thesundaily.com
TAIPING: The voters
P.59
in the Bukit Gantang par-
liamentary constituency had
given the Pakatan Rakyat (PR) a
chance to serve them but the party
failed, Deputy Minister in the Prime
Minister Department T. Murugiah
said yesterday.
Because of this, the voters will
now support Barisan Nasional
(BN), he said.
Murugiah said the agencies in the
Prime Minister’s Department had
received more than 300 complaints
from the voters in Bukit Gantang,
including flooding problems not
being attended to.
JC recuses himself again
from hearing suit
Ridwan recused himself following
a Federal Court ruling on March 23
that the suit by the three assembly-
men would be referred to the High
Court in Ipoh for trial.
Ridwan had referred the suit to
the Federal Court for determination
of constitutional issues involving the
state constitution as to whether the
Election Commission or Sivakumar
has the power to declare state as-
sembly seats vacant.
The Federal Court ruled that it
cannot entertain applications to in-
terpret state constitutions if referred
directly from the High Court.
BUKIT SELAMBAU by-election
in Sungai Lalang here.
Manikumar said the PKR lead-
ership may have opted for him be-
cause of his education, international
business exposure and the fact that
he was close to the local Malays, In-
dians, Chinese and even Siamese.
An MBA holder from Universiti
Utara Malaysia (UUM), the Spanish-
speaking entrepreneur has served
as a consultant to a Thai multi-
national concern and has been an
active member of the Kedah Indian
Chamber of Commerce.
“There were 18 candidates who
were shortlisted (by PKR). They
selected me,” he said. “If I had not
been chosen, I would be supporting
BUKIT GANTANG by-election
“(The previous) Bukit Gantang
MP (Roslan Shaharum of PAS)
had only shown his face on his
motorbike and many requests from
the people were not entertained,”
he said at a press conference after
meeting with officers from govern-
ment agencies and the local council
here.
“I believe the voters are realising
how important it is to have a BN
representative in their constituency
because we will go down and help
them solve their problems.”
Asked if he thought it was appro-
priate to blame the Opposition for
The only way the matter can be
brought to the Federal Court was
by way of an appeal to the Court of
Appeals first.
The three assemblymen who filed
the suit against Sivakumar are Mohd
Osman Mohd Jaitu (Changat Jering),
Jamaluddin Mohd Radzi (Behrang)
and Hee Yit Foong (Jelapang), whose
seats were declared vacant by the
speaker based on their pre-dated
resignation letters.
Sivakumar had informed the EC
to call for fresh elections for these
three seats but EC declined and said
the seats were not vacant.
BERNAMAPIX
Getting ready ... Election Commission officer Ignatius Ayal inspects the
ballot boxes and other election paraphernalia that will be used in the
Batang Ai state by-election, at the Lubok Antu District Office.
the candidate who
was.”
Manikumar,
who had been
seemingly reserved in
giving comments before this, grew
visibly impassioned yesterday as the
tide of campaigning intensified just
two days after nominations.
He said his vision was to help
the people cast aside their ethnic
differences. “If we Malaysians were
to take away our racial differences,
no one can compete against us,” he
said.
He said there were also numer-
ous infrastucture issues that needed
to be addressed in Bukit Selambau.
PKR supreme council member
Dr Xavier Jayakumar questioned
the party’s former Jerai division
head, B. Kalainavar, for choosing
work not being done
as the problems had
been there for a long
time, Murugiah said
he was not blaming
PR but it was the people who had
complained about them.
“The feedback we got from the
people is that they now prefer a BN
representative than an opposition
one,” he said.
At a separate function, Entrepre-
neurship and Cooperative Devel-
opment Minister Datuk Noh Omar
described the PAS candidate, Datuk
Seri Mohammad Nizar Jamaluddin,
as a “puppet of DAP”.
He said PAS was being used by
DAP because DAP had no Malay
assemblyman to be appointed
The three assemblymen then
referred their suit to the High Court
here for a ruling that they had not
vacated their seats as declared by
Sivakumar.
Ridwan had, on three occasions
(March 3, 5 and 11), ruled that Siva-
kumar, being a state public servant
drawing his salary from the state,
must only engage the services of the
state legal adviser and cannot be
represented by private lawyers.
On March 11, he had ruled that
Sivakumar cannot even represent
himself against the suit by the three
assemblymen.
the occasion of the by-election to an-
nounce his resignation and criticise
the party leadership.
“We had no problems with him
before. But if he uses the occasion
of this by-election to come out of
the party and express dissatisfaction
with the candidate, then he must in-
deed have an agenda,” Jayakumar
said.
He said other PKR members
were not disappointed with the
party’s choice of Manikumar and
would give him their full support.
Jeyakumar said that contrary to
Kalainavar’s reported assertion that
some 500 party members from the
Jerai division and state had resigned,
he found only 20 had done so.
“We won’t be short of supporters
in Bukit Selambau. Our spirits are
high,” he said.
the Perak mentri besar when PR
formed the state government after
the last general election.
“DAP had 18, PKR had seven
and PAS only had six assemblymen.
How could (an assemblyman from)
a party with only six assemblymen
become the mentri besar?” he
asked.
“If DAP had a Malay assembly-
man, Datuk Seri Mohammad Nizar
Jamaluddin would not have made
the mentri besar. PAS has become
a puppet.
“I have also learned that DAP is
now recruiting Malay leaders and
ustaz as their members, so if the
party has Malay representatives, the
mentri besar’s post will certainly
belong to DAP.”
3
However, Sivakumar applied
against the rulings by Ridwan in the
Court of Appeals in Kuala Lumpur,
which overturned Ridwan’s deci-
sions on March 13.
The court had ruled that there
is no provision in any law that the
speaker must be represented by
the state legal adviser and also that
Sivakumar is not a state officer or an
officer of a government of the state
under section 24(3) of the Govern-
ment Proceedings Act 1956.
In High Court (2), judge Balia
Yusof Wahi will rule whether he will
allow the six intervention applica-
tion by three former Pakatan Rakyat
state executive councillors and three
registered voters.
The three former exco member
– A. Sivanesan (Sungkai), Tai Sing
Ng (Kuala Sepatang) and Chen Fook
Chye (Keranji) – claimed that the res-
ignation of Osman, Jamaluddin and
Hee, which resulted in the takeover
of the state government by Barisan
Nasional, had cost them their posts
and their income.
The judge reserved his decision
for this afternoon.
Watch your words,
warn police
KUALA LUMPUR: Police will not
hesitate to take stern action against
anyone from any political party for
inciting, provoking or uttering words
deemed to be seditious, Inspec-
tor-General of Police Tan Sri Musa
Hassan said yesterday.
He said the candidates and
speakers in the three by-elections
must not utter or raise words that
are seditious in nature that can
cause uneasiness or tension among
those present.
They must adhere strictly to the
rules set by the Election Commis-
sion.
Musa said they must avoid mak-
ing unfounded and baseless allega-
tions on their opponents or the party
they represented.
“Police will be monitoring all the
political ceramah and will record
them. We urge everyone, including
supporters, not to provoke or taunt
anyone during their campaigns,” he
added in a statement. – Bernama
Samy Vellu: I’m a
Dale Carnegian
SUNGAI PETANI: Calling himself a
“Dale Carnegian”, MIC president
Datuk Seri S Samy Vellu has been
in an upbeat mood as campaign-
ing for the Bukit Selambau by-
election moves into high gear.
“I can go into any crowd of
Indians and convince them to
support the Barisan Nasional
(BN),” Samy Vellu said while on
the campaign trail yesterday.
“I am a Dale Carnegian,” he
said, referring to the late Ameri-
can self-improvement guru. “I
studied human psychology and
how to influence people.”
Asked how he dealt with
people who criticised or abused
him while on the campaign trail,
he said: “When you hear them,
you smile at them and say ‘Okay,
I come and see you another day’.”
– Himanshu Bhatt
Assurance for
Batang Ai Chinese
LUBOK ANTU: The minority Chi-
nese in Batang Ai have never been
neglected in development but are
given attention by the government
just like the other communities, the
Barisan Nasional candidate for the
seat, Malcolm Mussen Lamoh, said
yesterday.
“I will fight for the rights of the
people in Batang Ai irrespective
of whether they are the minority,
like the Chinese,” he said during
campaigning at the Lubok Antu
market.