Sivarasa: No doubt over resignation

(The Star) PETALING JAYA: There is no reason to doubt the authenticity of Mohammad Fairus Khairuddin’s press statement announcing his resignation as it bore his signature, PKR vice-president R. Sivarasa said.

“Unless someone comes out to say that he was forced to sign it, there is no reason to believe otherwise,” he said.

He was asked to comment on the circumstances of Fairus’ resignation. His statement, although signed, was not dated and was forwarded to the media by PKR headquarters here.

Asked for more details pertaining to the chronology leading to the resignation, Sivarasa said it was an internal matter of the party.

When contacted, Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng’s press secretary Cheong Yin Fan claimed that Lim was not aware of Fairus’ resignation.

“You will have to ask Anwar,” she said, referring to PKR de facto leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim. Lim is currently not in the country,

PAS secretary-general Datuk Kamaruddin Jaafar, meanwhile, said the party would naturally help PKR retain the Penanti state seat.

He said the cooperation between the three parties of the Pakatan Rakyat pact was now tested, having gone through four by-elections throughout the country previously.

He said the basic principle was since this was a PKR seat, the party would take the lead in campaigning.