DAP man causes scare for Perak govt with resignation letter
DAP man causes scare for Perak govt with resignation letter
By HAH FOONG LIAN and CHRISTINA KOH
IPOH: It was a day of drama for the Perak coalition government when a DAP assemblyman quit from his party, – sending party leaders scrambling – only to retract his resignation six hours later.
The resignation of Buntong assemblyman A. Sivasubramaniam shocked his state chief Ngeh Koo Ham and the rest of the Indian DAP representatives.
Various meetings were convened, including one between Ngeh and Sivasubramaniam and at 6pm, party leaders held a press conference at Wisma DAP and the latter declared he had retracted his resignation.
His resignation would have put the DAP-PAS-PKR coalition government in a precarious position as it would only have 30 of the state assembly’s 59 members, giving it a razor-thin one seat majority in the house. Barisan Nasional has 28 members.
Sivasubramaniam, who is Perak DAP assistant secretary, had faxed a letter to DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng stating he was dissatisfied with the Perak DAP leadership.
He said he had lost confidence in the state leaders and claimed that Ngeh had not fulfilled his promise of appointing two Indian assemblymen as a state executive council (exco) member.
He added the Perak DAP leadership had failed to respect “the voice of makkal sakti (People’s Power).”
“The decision was a huge slap for the Indian community and designed to hoodwink the Indian community in Perak,” he said in his letter which was made available to the press.
He also said even if an Indian Perak DAP member were to get an assembly Speaker or Deputy Speaker, it could not “do much for the Indian community.”
An emergency meeting was held with Ngeh and the other Indian elected representatives.
Up until 3pm, efforts by state DAP leaders to contact Sivasubramaniam failed.
At about 5pm, Ngeh managed to have a five-minute discussion with Sivasubramaniam and the matter was put to rest.
An hour later, a press conference was called where Sivasubramaniam, who is also DAP Socialist Youth committee member, retracted his resignation letter.
He said the whole episode was a “mistake and misunderstanding” on his part.
“The matter has been solved. I am satisfied with Ngeh’s explanation that the post of assembly Speaker would be filled by an Indian leader,” he said.
Sivasubramaniam said his ailing mother was the one who convinced him to discuss his resignation with the party leadership, adding that even if he had resigned, he would have stayed independent.
Ngeh said Perak DAP was not sidelining the interest of the Indian community.
Acknowledging that the party had originally planned to have two Indian assemblymen as exco members, he said the party had then, in principle, agreed to have an Indian assemblyman as state assembly Speaker.
He promised that there would be more Indian representation in the state government compared with the previous administration.
“There is a misunderstanding. We have to first wait for the full list of state appointments. Only then will the people know that we did not neglect the Indian community or the fairer sex,” he said.
On whether the resignation had jeopardised the image of a stable state government or had created a bad impression, Ngeh said: “I hope not. This is just a misunderstanding.”
Asked whether a post was offered to Sivasubramaniam for him to retract his resignation, Ngeh said: “No.”
http://www.thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2008/4/1/nation/20808201&sec=nation
seals: makkal sakthi is here!
By HAH FOONG LIAN and CHRISTINA KOH
IPOH: It was a day of drama for the Perak coalition government when a DAP assemblyman quit from his party, – sending party leaders scrambling – only to retract his resignation six hours later.
The resignation of Buntong assemblyman A. Sivasubramaniam shocked his state chief Ngeh Koo Ham and the rest of the Indian DAP representatives.
Various meetings were convened, including one between Ngeh and Sivasubramaniam and at 6pm, party leaders held a press conference at Wisma DAP and the latter declared he had retracted his resignation.
His resignation would have put the DAP-PAS-PKR coalition government in a precarious position as it would only have 30 of the state assembly’s 59 members, giving it a razor-thin one seat majority in the house. Barisan Nasional has 28 members.
Sivasubramaniam, who is Perak DAP assistant secretary, had faxed a letter to DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng stating he was dissatisfied with the Perak DAP leadership.
He said he had lost confidence in the state leaders and claimed that Ngeh had not fulfilled his promise of appointing two Indian assemblymen as a state executive council (exco) member.
He added the Perak DAP leadership had failed to respect “the voice of makkal sakti (People’s Power).”
“The decision was a huge slap for the Indian community and designed to hoodwink the Indian community in Perak,” he said in his letter which was made available to the press.
He also said even if an Indian Perak DAP member were to get an assembly Speaker or Deputy Speaker, it could not “do much for the Indian community.”
An emergency meeting was held with Ngeh and the other Indian elected representatives.
Up until 3pm, efforts by state DAP leaders to contact Sivasubramaniam failed.
At about 5pm, Ngeh managed to have a five-minute discussion with Sivasubramaniam and the matter was put to rest.
An hour later, a press conference was called where Sivasubramaniam, who is also DAP Socialist Youth committee member, retracted his resignation letter.
He said the whole episode was a “mistake and misunderstanding” on his part.
“The matter has been solved. I am satisfied with Ngeh’s explanation that the post of assembly Speaker would be filled by an Indian leader,” he said.
Sivasubramaniam said his ailing mother was the one who convinced him to discuss his resignation with the party leadership, adding that even if he had resigned, he would have stayed independent.
Ngeh said Perak DAP was not sidelining the interest of the Indian community.
Acknowledging that the party had originally planned to have two Indian assemblymen as exco members, he said the party had then, in principle, agreed to have an Indian assemblyman as state assembly Speaker.
He promised that there would be more Indian representation in the state government compared with the previous administration.
“There is a misunderstanding. We have to first wait for the full list of state appointments. Only then will the people know that we did not neglect the Indian community or the fairer sex,” he said.
On whether the resignation had jeopardised the image of a stable state government or had created a bad impression, Ngeh said: “I hope not. This is just a misunderstanding.”
Asked whether a post was offered to Sivasubramaniam for him to retract his resignation, Ngeh said: “No.”
http://www.thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2008/4/1/nation/20808201&sec=nation
seals: makkal sakthi is here!
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