PKR to attend swearing-in event after all

PETALING JAYA: PKR has made a U-turn on Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim's boycott proposal and has decided to attend the swearing-in ceremony for Members of Parliament on June 24.

Its political bureau made a unanimous decision last night not to boycott the swearing-in ceremony and opening of the 13th Parliament sitting.

PKR Wanita chief Zuraida Kamaruddin confirmed that the decision was unanimous. She claimed that Anwar's earlier suggestion to boycott the swearing-in ceremony in protest of alleged electoral fraud was “spun.”

Zuraida had earlier said that the Wanita wing did not agree to the boycott, as they needed to be present at the Parliament to effectively represent the electorates.

Separately, DAP and PAS said their MPs are also set to attend the swearing-in ceremony. DAP adviser Lim Kit Siang reiterated yesterday his earlier stance, saying “the issue of a boycott by DAP does not arise”.

On Tuesday, DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng also said that the 38 DAP MPs would not boycott the ceremony, but would use Dewan Rakyat as a platform to push for electoral reforms.

PAS secretary-general Datuk Mustafa Ali said all 21 PAS MPs would attend the swearing-in. He added that the decision was made by the party leadership. Mustafa admitted that there was a call for a boycott.

“But this was in relation to the parliamentarian briefing session held at Parliament House on Tuesday,” he said.

Talk of 89 Pakatan Rakyat MPs boycotting the swearing-in arose last week following a proposal by Anwar that it was a gesture to protest alleged electoral fraud.

The prospect of a boycott was further fuelled when Anwar confirmed that he did not submit his written question prior to the start of Parliament session. This included Pakatan Rakyat MPs boycotting the parliamentary briefing session.

The Star 

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Report is lodged against PKR man over blog entries

Kota Kinabalu: A police report was lodged against Central Parti Keadilan Youth leader Shamsul Mohd Akin over two blog entries, believed meant to defame Chief Minister Datuk Seri Musa Aman, over the RM40 million fund scandal, Monday.

The Pakatan NGO Pro BN said Shamsul continued to make the allegations through blogs and lectures in spite of the Hong Kong International Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) having cleared Musa over the case, which Shamsul had lodged in 2009.

"He (Shamsul) had mongered on the topic as to instigate the people to hate the Chief Minister. Clearly, Shamsul had intentions to defame the Chief Minister," he said.

He reasoned Shamsul should not be making the allegations since the ICAC is well-known worldwide and had no confidence on the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission.

Furthermore, Hong Kong is also ranked number 12 from 183 countries by the Transparency International for the least corruption cases.

He said the RM40 million Shamsul was referring to was contributed to the Umno Fund and was not meant to any individual.

Besides there was nothing wrong for political parties to receive contributions, unless there was an Act made in Parliament saying it is wrong, he added.

He said the RM40 million was a contribution made to Umno for the Permatang Pauh, Seberang Perai constituency in the 2008 General Elections for the use of it's candidate who was up against keadilan Advisor, Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.

"On the contrary, where did DAP get the funds to build their headquarters in Penang valued at RM3.5 million? If the opposition thinks any political contributions are wrong, why did they (DAP) receive the money anyway?" he asked.

He also urged the police and the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission to enforce the Sedition Act 1998 on Shamsul.

"We hope the police in Sabah will be firm on the matter because the many reports we have made, it seems no action has been taken against the opposition.

"We hope these allegations and lies could be stopped.

And stern action taken," said Zulkarnain, saying otherwise the NGO would organise a peaceful gathering of all 3,000 members here.

He also said some of the Pakatan NGO Pro BN Supreme Council will fly to Hong Kong and obtain a letter from the ICAC stating Musa had been cleared.

Zulkairnain was accompanied with four others of the body's Supreme Council members.

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