DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng has appointed Zairil Khir Johari as his political secretary with immediate effect.
Zairil, 28, is the son of Umno stalwart and former education minister Tan Sri Mohd Khir Johari, who has served under three prime ministers including the late Tunku Abdul Rahman.
Lim, who made the announcement today at the party's headquarters here, said Zairil will assist him with political matters at party and national level and will be based at the DAP secretariat in Kuala Lumpur.
"He is an entrepreneur, idealist and reformist. I am confident that with his ability and experience in various fields, he will be a positive asset to our party and will contribute greatly to our struggle to realise a prosperous, equitable and just Malaysia for all Malaysians," said Lim who is also the Penang chief minister.
Ahmad Nazri (L) failed to find the missing watch today despite a two-hour search
A policeman said today he had failed to find Teoh Beng Hock’s missing watch after the Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) investigating the death of the DAP aide ordered him to do so.
Investigating officer (IO) ASP Ahmad Nazri Zainal admitted to the inquiry earlier this morning that he had not searched a drainage hole near Teoh’s body thoroughly, which had been found on the fifth floor corridor of Plaza Masalam here on July 16 2009.
“Didn’t find anything,” Ahmad Nazri told reporters today at Plaza Masalam here.
“I’ll explain in court. (We've been searching) since 3.30 (pm),” he added, before rushing off with a police forensics team.
Newly appointed Selangor state secretary Datuk Mohd Khusrin Munawi
Newly appointed Selangor state secretary Datuk Mohd Khusrin Munawi says he has no personal or political agenda and will carry out his duties as a civil servant.
Speaking at his office at the state secretariat building today, he denied that his appointment, which has been marred by controversy, was part of the Barisan Nasional’s agenda to topple the Pakatan Rakyat state government.
"As an SUK (state secretary) I don’t have much power. The power lies with (state) exco to implement policies.
Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz.,the defactor Law Minister alleged called Thai pathologist Dr Pornthip Rojanasunand , is alleged a contempt of court
(L)Teoh family lawyer Karpal Singh , (r) Thai pathologist Dr Pornthip Rojanasunand, the director of the Thai Ministry of Justice's Central Institute of Forensic Science
The Coroner’s Court investigating the death of Teoh Beng Hock today fixed May 21 to deliver its decision as to whether to grant leave for contempt proceedings against Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz.
Coroner Azmil Muntapha Abas fixed the date after hearing submissions from both Senior Federal Counsel Amarjeet Singh, who represented the Attorney-General and Teoh family lawyer Karpal Singh.
The application for leave to commit the minister for contempt was filed by Teoh's brother, Meng Kee in response to statements made by Nazri in an interview given to Hazlan Zakaria, a reporter with the online news portal Malaysiakini on April 11.
Nazri had called Thai pathologist Dr Pornthip Rojanasunand, the director of the Thai Ministry of Justice's Central Institute of Forensic Science a "liar" when commenting on her statement that she was unable to testify in the inquest due to political pressure put on her by the Malaysian government through "informal channels".
MCA secretary-general Datuk Wong Foon Meng meet with Datuk Seri Tan Chai Ho the EGM chief coordinator for Dr Chua.Both has now agree to have a single EGM known as the Presidential EGM. Both parties are hopely will meet to fix the date for the EGM.
Datuk Seri Tan Chai Ho EGM action committee chief coordinator
Dr Liow and Kong are seen as replacement for the Ong and Chua , if Ong and Chua voluntary resign for the sake of unity in MCA.
The leaders of a campaign to topple Datuk Seri Ong Tee Keat as MCA president met with the party secretary general to explore the possibility of combining their extraordinary general meeting (EGM) with a competing one called by Ong himself.
This comes after MCA secretary general Datuk Wong Foon Meng tried to avert a two EGM scenario and gave supporters of sacked deputy president Datuk Chua Soi Lek until today to submit their EGM agenda saying that two EGMs would be a waste of party resources and delegate’s time.
The deadline was extended indefinitely following the meeting between Datuk Seri Tan Chai Ho, who is chief coordinator of the campaign, and Wong.
Tan, who came with a copy of the five resolutions of what has been called the central delegate’s EGM, had wanted to exchange agendas with what is now called the president’s EGM.
MCA secretary-general Datuk Wong Foon Meng today announced that both party president Datuk Seri Ong Tee Keat and deputy president Datuk Seri Dr Chua Soi Lek's camps had agreed to a joint extraordinary general meeting.
Supporters of sacked MCA deputy president Datuk Seri Dr Chua Soi Lek want the party president, Datuk Seri Ong Tee Keat, to propose a date for the next meeting between the two warring factions to discuss matters pertaining to a single Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM).
It was learned that Ong's resolutions will include the central delegates' endorsement of the decision to expel Chua and also to support Ong in getting to the bottom of the Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ) scandal. It was reported that the committee has two major resolutions for the EGM, which were to: > Reinstate Chua as the deputy president; and > Move a motion of no-confidence against Ong.
Earlier Tan told reporters the discussion with Wong did not take place because the action committee wanted to read Ong's resolutions before submitting its resolutions to the party headquarters.
"We would like to thank Wong for meeting us but we can only discuss when the president's resolutions are ready. To be fair, it is better for us to read the resolutions together. We will decide on the possibility to hold the EGM together after going through the president's resolutions and we hope that Ong will sit down and talk to us," he said, adding that another date will be fixed for the discussion.
Asked how many resolutions have been drafted by the committee, Tan said he will only make public the resolutions after discussion with party headquarters.
On whether the committee has an ideal date for the EGM, he said he was unable to say, but that it shall be decided by the secretary-general after the committee has officially submitted the petition for an EGM.
"We are ready to submit the petition anytime as we have collected more than 800 signatures and we will continue to receive signatures from the central delegates," he said.
On the accusation that some central delegates were forced to sign the petition, Tan said the delegates signed voluntarily after reading the resolutions and witnessed by lawyers and oath commissioners.
MCA Disciplinary Board Asked To Be On Lookout For Money Politics
MCA president Datuk Seri Ong Tee Keat wants the party's disciplinary board to be on the lookout for money politics ahead of its extraordinary general meeting (EGM).
The Transport Minister said MCA viewed the matter seriously and would not compromise on money politics in whatever form.
"Perhaps our disciplinary board or MCA's secretariat can follow up on this. We cannot compromise on any kind of graft or commonly known as money politics," he told reporters after holding a meeting with Pahang MCA members here Saturday.
Prior to this, MCA secretary-general Datuk Wong Foon Meng had stated that there had been numerous complaints from the grassroots alleging "signatures were being bought" for the convening of a rival party EGM.
Central Delegates lobby to replace Ong and Chua with Liow and Kong
Sin Chew Daily recently found that some MCA Central delegates have started to lobby other Central delegates to quell the current dispute and internal conflict by asking President Datuk Seri Ong Tee Keat and Deputy President Datuk Seri Dr Chua Soi Lek to resign, and electing successors to replace them.
It is reported that these Central delegates reflect the current idea of the grass-roots in which they support neither Ong nor Dr Chua. They believe that the current situation of the party is derived from the hatred between Ong and Dr Chua instead of the whole leadership. Also, they do not wish the hatred to cause another unnecessary party struggle and split.
It is understood that these Central delegates are trying to contact and propose the idea to other Central delegates who tend to support the Chua faction. They lobby them to persuade Dr Chua to accept the proposal.
It is said that they believe that if both Ong and Dr Chua step down, the Central Committee will elect the most suitable candidates to be their successors.
Among the four Vice-Presidents, namely Datuk Kong Cho Ha, Datuk Seri Dr Liow Tiong Lai, Datuk Seri Dr Ng Yen Yen and Tan Kok Hong, Kong and Dr Liow(the current Minister of Health of Malalysia ) are most likely to be elected as the successors.
It is said that the Central delegates, who tend to support the Chua faction, have not yet given any response to the proposal, but they wonder whether Ong is willing to step down. They believe that in order to have both Ong and Dr Chua resign, they must first have Dr Chua back to the party for discussions and negotiations.
A MCA veteran pointed out that there are only two options available for MCA now. Firstly, they have to choose between Ong and Dr Chua; secondly, both of Ong and Dr Chua have to resign.
Power struggle between Num1 and Num2 man. Ong vs Chua. But Chua finally got sacked from MCA for sex scandal. Dr Chua was caught on hidden spy CCTV having sex with another woman (not his wife) . Subsequently Dr Chua resign from all posts in MCA and government which include Ministry of Health , State Chief , Centre Committee , and others. However , in one of the greatest come back , Dr Chua was elected as Vice President to MCA . However 18 months later Dr Chua was punished again and this time sacked from MCA . Many believe this is Ong move to distract people from the PKFZ scandal and solidify his power.
THE MCA Disciplinary Board .(L-R) Datuk Seri Kong Cho Ha (VP) , Ong Tee Keat Datuk(MCA President) ,Wong Foon Meng (party secretary-general),vice-president Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai (VP) and Wanita MCA chief Datin Paduka Chew Mei Fun
Wong (left) speaking to reporters at a press conference after the party’s presidential council meeting in Kuala Lumpur Tuesday. With him is party vice-president Datuk Seri Kong Cho Ha.
Dr Chua speaking to supportors.
MCA veteran Tan Sri Lee Kim Sai said today the MCA can "kill two birds with one stone" by having one extraordinary general meeting (EGM) to deal with the current turmoil in the party. He said the EGM could deal with the issue of confidence in the leadership of party president Datuk Seri Ong Tee Keat and the recent sacking of Datuk Seri Dr Chua Soi Lek from the party at the same sitting.
"No need to have two EGMs. Just one is enough, with these two agendas. One is for the vote of confidence and the other on Dr Chua. Let the delegates decide," he told Bernama today.
MCA has decided to have only one extraordinary general meeting (EGM) and delegates were told to submit their agendas to the party headquarters by Friday.
The directive came from party secretary-general Datuk Wong Foon Meng, who said this was to avoid too many meetings which will cause unnecessary inconvenience to delegates.
● Wong said MCA will start preparing for the EGM after Friday, including sending out notices.
● Both vice-president Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai and Youth Chief Datuk Dr Wee Ka Siong have voiced their agreement for a single EGM.
● Liow has also denied that the present issue is a repeat of the 1984 party crisis involving the then leaders.
● Former deputy president Datuk Seri Dr Chua Soi Lek wants to go ahead with his supporters’ plan for their own EGM.
Datuk Seri Dr Chua Soi Lek, who was sacked as MCA deputy president by the MCA presidential council over his DVD sex scandal last week, had described Ong’s move to call the EGM as a “blatant use of executive power”. “It was the grassroots who first started the ball rolling in petitioning for an EGM. Ong’s move in calling another EGM is aimed at confusing the members.”
Ong made the surprise move in calling the EGM on Monday under Article 30.1 of the party’s constitution to allow members to reflect on the direction in which the party should be heading.
He said president Datuk Seri Ong Tee Keat's decision showed a lack of consistency in his leadership.
"When I was sacked and there was talk of my supporters having an EGM, the president's supporters criticised and condemned it.
"Now, hardly three days later, Ong decides to have an EGM. His whole motive is to confuse the delegates," he told the New Straits Times yesterday.
Chua said he will leave it to the political maturity of the delegates to decide on the future direction of the party. "They are clear as to what the president should do and shouldn't do."
He also took a swipe at the party's leadership, including the disciplinary board's recommendation that he be expelled due to his involvement in a sex scandal as it would be a burden to the party.
"If I am a burden to the party, then the grassroots should be happy with the decision.
"Why has it evoked such strong protests from members that the leadership is forced to go on a nationwide briefing to explain the situation?"
He added he had not decided whether to appeal against his sacking, saying that he needed more time to consider his options.
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Upon arrival at the party's headquarters in Jalan Ampang Chua Soi Lek was asked to predict how the presidential council meeting would go, he replied by grabbing his throat with his hand and said, "Gantung mati" (hanged to death) thrice in succession.
Chua was not allowed to participate in the meeting as he was an interested party.
He said he had received a report from the disciplinary committee which recommended the presidential council to sack him.
He added that he will adhere to whatever decision made by the party on the matter.
He noted that the presidential council usually endorsed decisions made by the disciplinary committee.
He also said that he hoped party president and his rival Ong Tee Keat will "sleep well tonight after I'm expelled".
He said that Ong had been seeing him as an enemy and the biggest threat since party elections last October.
"Members must take necessary action to stop the party from being destroyed by one person," he said.
SHAH ALAM: There is evidence that Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission officers physically and psychologically abuse witnesses and suspects during questioning, a lawyer told the inquest into Teoh Beng Hock’s death.
“The witness will identify the MACC officers involved. However, I cannot reveal the name of the witness now because of security reasons,” said Gobind Singh Deo, who is holding a watching brief for the political aide’s family, said he had in his possession police reports and photographs of injuries suffered by an individual to support his claim.
Teoh, who was the political secretary to Selangor executive councillor Ean Yong Hian Wah, was summoned to the state MACC office located at the 14th floor of Plaza Masalam on July 15, to be questioned about alleged irregular disbursement of state funds. He was found dead the following day on the fifth floor.
Accusation leveled are :- Oofficers took turns to slap an individual, blindfolded and forced him to strip naked. Also alleged to have wrapped an iron rod in newspapers and hit the man in the stomach, buttocks, hands and legs.Also said to have been kicked in the stomach and a cane was used to hit his private parts and feet.
Gobind made these allegations when questioning Selangor MACC assistant enforcement officer Mohd Ashraf Mohd Yunus.
He told coroner Azmil Muntapha Abas that the person would be called to testify what had happened to him when Selangor MACC officers interrogated him at their office in Plaza Masalam, the same place where Teoh’s body was found on July 16.
Can this report be used? Earlier, MACC counsel Datuk Abdul Razak Musa said the police report should not be allowed into the inquest as it was not relevant to the case, pointing out that this would open up the floodgates which would divert the proceedings from focusing on finding out the cause of Teoh’s death.
Coroner Azmil Muntapha Abas, who gave Gobind the green light to use the police report to frame his questions, explained to Mohd Ashraf his rights as a witness in the inquest.
“You have the right not to answer if you feel that the questions may implicate you,” said Azmil Muntapha.
The inquest was adjourned to Sept 8.
Candle vigil was held , seeking answer for Teoh death.
Mr Teoh seen here holding the hp.Teoh, who was the political secretary to Selangor executive councillor Ean Yong Hian Wah(centre)
Malaysia Forensic team , processing teoh body at MACC building.
Teoh body found at the MACC buiding at 5th floor , believed to be drop from 13 floor.
Teoh family members performing burial rites at the site of the Teoh body.
A protester scuffles with policemen during a protest outside the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) building in Shah Alam on the outskirts of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on July 17. Malaysian police fired tear gas and water cannons, and arrested dozens of demonstrators Saturday in an attempt to disperse a mass street protest against draconian internal security laws.
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More than 3,000 people have packed the Kelana Jaya stadium in a two-hour gathering to mark the death of political aide Teoh Beng Hock. Pakatan Rakyat top brass, including Selangor Menteri Besar Khalid Ibrahim and Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng, took turns to address the crowd.
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Coroner Azmil Muntapha Abas who is hearing the inquest on the death of political aide Teoh Beng Hock is this morning visiting Plaza Massalam in Shah Alam where the state MACC office is located.
Azmil arrived at the building at about 9.50am and headed straight to the 14th floor of the building. He was accompanied by lawyers, court officials and other personnel.
Reporters were however not allowed to join in the scene-visit nor enter the MACC office. They have been asked to wait at the lift lobby. Teoh's body was found on the fifth-floor corridor of the building a day after he was taken in for questioning by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission on July 15.
