DPM: Expulsion is party’s right

(NST) PAGOH: The People's Progressive Party has the prerogative to sack its supreme council member Datuk T. Murugiah from the party.

And the party, according to Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, was duty-bound to inform Barisan Nasional (BN) component parties on the matter as Murugiah, a deputy minister in the Prime Minister's Department, was a member of the cabinet.

He said it was up to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak to decide on Murugiah's position in the cabinet.

He was speaking after meeting the Indian community here yesterday.

In Kuantan, Murugiah denied that he was involved in money politics in order to secure support from PPP divisional heads.

PPP president Datuk M. Kayveas had claimed that Murugiah had deposited RM74,000 in the bank account of a divisional head. But this was baseless, he said.

He said the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) had checked the account of Selayang PPP chief K. Tanggaraju and found that it contained only 73 sen.

Murugiah said it was also untrue that he had awarded projects as an inducement to divisional leaders to support him.

"There's no project that I can give as I'm only in charge of the Public Complaints Bureau, Public Services Commission and Education Commision.

"I'm not a Works Minister," he said after opening a seminar on small agro-business and franchise opportunity here yesterday.

Murugiah also said that he was never interrogated by the MACC although the commission did check some documents at his office recently.

On his position after the party disciplinary board's decision to sack him on Saturday, Murugiah said he was still a PPP member as the sacking was illegal and was made by Kayveas' cronies.

He also challenged Kayveas to have a straight fight for the top post in the party elections next month.

"I have kept silent before but now I have to take action to save the party. PPP members can no longer tolerate Kayveas' dictatorship and he has done nothing for PPP members and the people in the past 15 years," he said.

He added that Kayveas' continuous threat to bring PPP out of the BN had also affected the people's support for the coalition.

"BN should suspend him and disallow him from attending the coalition's supreme council meeting until he resolves the party's internal problems," he said.

Murugiah also admitted that he was made an offer to join MIC but he had yet to make a decision on the matter.

In Ipoh, Bernama reported that two of the seven PPP members who were expelled by the party's disciplinary board on Saturday would not appeal against the decision.

One of them, Brickfields Utara branch leader M. Jeyaratnam, who is also Murugiah's special officer, said he would instead lodge a complaint with the MACC and the Registrar of Societies for investigation to be conducted into PPP's accounts.

He claimed that PPP's accounts had not been updated since 2002.

"I'll not appeal because the action (expulsion) taken by the party is not valid.

"If I am to appeal, it would mean that I accept the decision," he said.

Jeyaratnam added he would also discuss with his lawyer on further action to be taken to clear his name.