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Huan shows the
Gerakan badge
on his shirt to
demonstrate
his allegiance to
the party
MASRY CHE ANI/THESUN
BN won’t resort to strong-arm
tactics in Manek Urai
KOTA BARU: Kelantan Umno
liaison committee chairman Datuk
Mustapa Mohamed said yesterday
the Barisan Nasional (BN) would
not emulate the strong-arm tactics
of PAS in its bid to win the Manek
Urai state seat in the by-election
next month.
He said Umno would prohibit its
members from resorting to quar-
rels and fights with its opponents
and would instead adopt a rational
and professional attitude through
solidarity.
“I will not allow Umno mem-
bers to challenge our opponents
to fistfights. Let’s not quarrel, let’s
do it (contest) as friends,” he said
when launching the BN election
machinery for the by-election. The
nominations will take place on July
6 and polling on July 14.
Mustapa expressed regret and
disappointment over the attitude
of PAS leaders who were prepared
to resort to violence against Umno
and BN election workers to retain
the seat at all cost.
“It is strange that while some top
PAS leaders propose unity, Kelan-
Division chief to lodge report against rep
SEBERANG PERAI: A DAP division
head will lodge a report with the Ma-
laysian Anti-Corruption Commission
today against an assemblyman from
his own party for alleged misuse of
state funds totalling RM2,000.
Teh Hock Yong, the DAP Nibong
Tebal division chairman, said yesterday
he would lodge a report against Jawi
assemblyman Tan Beng Huat.
He said he had documents to sup-
Huan: I’m staying in Gerakan
by Himanshu Bhatt
newsdesk@thesundaily.com
SEBERANG PERAI: Gerakan
vice-president Huan Cheng Guan
has announced that he will remain
in the party following two weeks
of speculation that he may cross
over to PKR.
Huan, who is the former MP for
Batu Kawan, told a press confer-
ence yesterday he had made the
decision after receiving support
and feedback from grassroots
members in Gerakan.
“I went down to the ground
tan PAS is against it,” he said.
He was commenting on state-
ments by PAS leaders at the launch
of their party election machinery
three days ago when they report-
edly said the party was prepared to
go to the extent of quarrelling and
engaging in fistfights with Umno
members and election workers to
retain the seat.
Mustapa said this action went
against Islamic principles and
was contrary to the PAS concept
of developing with Islam, which
the party’s leaders seem not to be
adhering to.
He said PAS regarded Umno as
its main rival and branded Umno
members as “kafir” (infidels) but
PAS itself was associating itself
with the DAP which he said op-
posed every Islamic programme
proposed by PAS.
Mustapa said PAS had deviated
from the original objective of its
formation and added that Umno
would not be swayed from the
1Malaysia concept of using unity
to achieve its objectives, even in
Manek Urai.
port his claim that Tan had approved
funds for the purchase of a karaoke set
which cost less than the amount.
“I will produce the evidence to the
MACC,” he told reporters at the Hok-
kien Association in Nibong Tebal.
Tan had denied any wrongdoing last
week and had submitted an undated
resignation letter to Chief Minister and
DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng.
Teh also said he would make a
to meet the grassroots and the
majority of them told me to stay
in the party,” he said.
However, he told the Gerakan
leadership not to ignore his con-
cerns about the importance of
heeding the grassroots members,
specifically in the decision to ap-
point outsiders as branch coordi-
nators in Seberang Perai.
“If you do not resolve this is-
sue, how are you going to win the
next general election?” he said. “If
the local people do not cooperate
with the coordinators, how are
they going to work?”
The by-election follows the death
of PAS state assemblyman Ismail
Yaacob on May 22. – Bernama Mousavi
seeks to
overturn
Iran vote
result
separate report to the MACC on a pg 6
letter allegedly signed by Tan and
addressed to village security and
development committees and Rukun
Tetangga committees in five areas in
Seberang Perai on April 7, 2008.
He said it was improper for Tan,
as an assemblyman, to have signed
the letter authorising the bearer to
oversee the leadership changes in the
committees.
theSun | MONDAY JUNE 15 2009
The Gerakan leadership had is-
sued a show-cause letter to Huan
on June 1 for his public criticism
of the party leadership in the deci-
sion to appoint the coordinators
– a move opposed by local branch
leaders in Seberang Perai.
PKR Penang chairman Datuk
Zahrain Hashim had told report-
ers on June 3 he had spoken to
Huan about a possible crossover.
Huan later said a few thousand
supporters were ready to follow him
should he decide to move to PKR.
“I did not mean to annoy or
hurt anyone in the party,” he
Man found dead in
police lock-up
by Charles Ramendran
newsdesk@thesundaily.com
PETALING JAYA: A 53-year-
old man with a string of
convictions for drug offences
and theft was found dead in
a lock-up cell early yesterday,
three days after he was held
by police in Damansara.
Gnanaprakasam Anthony,
of Sentul, was arrested by
police while trying to break
into a house in Sungai Buloh
late on Wednesday.
He was held at the
Damansara police lock-up
with four other inmates in a
cell, Petaling Jaya police chief
ACP Arjunaidi Mohamed told
a press conference at the
district police headquarters.
Ex-ministers among backbenchers
» From Front Page
In this meeting, a good
number of former cabinet min-
isters will sit as backbenchers,
the most notable being former
premier Tun Abdullah Ahmad
Badawi.
Former ministers who are
now backbenchers include
Datuk Seri Ong Ka Chuan (BN-
Tanjung Malim), Tan Sri Syed
Hamid Albar (BN-Kota Tinggi),
Datuk Seri Mohd Zin Mohamed
(BN-Sepang), Datuk Seri Azalina
Othman Said (BN-Pengerang),
Datuk Seri Zulhasnan Rafique
(BN-Setiawangsa) and Datuk
Shahrir Samad (BN-Johor
Baru).
Among those who will make
their parliamentary debut is
Datuk Seri Mohd Nizar Jamalud-
said. “But the party leaders have
to go back to basics. Without the
support of the grassroots, we are
nobody.”
He said he would submit his
reply to the show-cause letter to
Gerakan president and Minister
in the Prime Minister’s Depart-
ment Tan Sri Dr Koh Tsu Koon in
Parliament today.
Present at the press conference
were representatives of the
Gerakan divisions of Tasek
Gelugor, Nibong Tebal, Bukit
Mertajam, Permatang Pauh, Batu
Kawan and Kepala Batas.
At about 8am, policemen
on guard found Gnanapra-
kasam lying motionless in the
toilet cubicle in his cell.
The body was taken to
the University Malaya Medi-
cal Centre mortuary where a
post mortem is expected to
be carried out today.
Gnanaprakasam’s wife,
M. Manimegalai, 40, a store
assistant, said that when she
visited him on Friday, he had
a swollen eye which he said
was the result of a beating.
Otherwise, her husband was
fine.
“How could he have died
barely a day later under the
custody of the police? I will
seek justice for my husband,”
she said.
din (PAS-Bukit Gantang), who
is still caught in a legal fight
for the Perak mentri besar’s
post held by Barisan Nasional’s
Datuk Seri Zambry Abdul Kadir.
This meeting will also see
the special committee inves-
tigating the confrontation be-
tween Karpal Singh (DAP-Bukit
Gelugor) and Selangor Umno
youth members outside the
Dewan revealing its findings.
With so much happening, it
is easy to forget Parliament’s
main job – that of approving
laws. Up for debate at the
committee stage are the
Judges Ethics Committee Bill,
Enforcement Agencies Integrity
Commission Bill and the DNA
Identification Bill.
The second meeting for this
year will be on until June 30.