Tian Chua: I don't agree with memorandum calling for party president's apology

PETALING JAYA: Tian Chua, one of the 20 PKR central leadership council (MPP) members who jointly endorsed a memorandum protesting the disciplinary board's decision to sack Zakaria Abdul Hamid, says he did not agree to a point in the memorandum, which called for the party president to apologise.

"Personally, I do not agree with the entire content of the memorandum that include calls asking the party president to apologise.

"But, I agree that Zakaria's membership should be reinstated on principles of justice and fairness," he said on Monday (Dec 2).

In Penang on Saturday (Nov 30), PKR president Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim said he will not apologise for the party’s sacking of Zakaria, the Bera division chief.

“I confirmed with PKR vice-presidents Tian Chua and R. Sivarasa. They only protested to the sacking and asked the party disciplinary committee to reconsider.

“Asking for the president to apologise was not in the statement and it has been manipulated.

“I am not sure who manipulated the statement, but it was signed by the deputy president," said Anwar.

Anwar and his deputy Datuk Seri Azmin Ali has been embroiled in a factional war that is dividing the party.

Tian Chua, the vice-president, said on Monday (Dec 2) that the party disciplinary board should reinstate Zakaria's membership to avoid breaching party constitution.

He added that Zakaria was an MPP member, and according to the party constitution, a two-third majority vote from the council was needed before sacking a fellow MPP member.

"I think the disciplinary board should review and correct its decision. Do the right thing in line with principles of justice," he said.

According to Clause 9.1(e) of PKR constitution, two-third of the MPP members' approval was needed to sack a fellow MPP member.

On Nov 24, the disciplinary board announced the decision of the party to terminate the memberships of Zakaria and another member, Ismail Dulhadi, on grounds of corruption based on the content of a letter from the Malaysia Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC).

The sacking of the two members had riled the team aligned to Azmin, leading to the issuance of the protest memorandum.

A group of Youth members also recently called upon the MPP to push a vote of no-confidence against Anwar's leadership, while an MPP member aligned to the president had threatened to retaliate by pushing a motion to sack Azmin and his supporters for failure to attend meetings.

Tian Chua called on the divided factions to reconcile.

"We should quickly end this episode, and try to reconcile.

"Once the issue of unfair sacking is rectified, the party should return to normalcy," he said.