Khalid dares Umno to call for Port Klang by-election
By Neville Spykerman, The Malaysian Insider
Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim has dared Umno to call for a by-election in Port Klang after its assemblyman Badrul Hisham Abdullah quit PKR yesterday after claiming his constituency funds had been cut.
Selangor Umno has promised to help the first-time assemblyman with allocations for the seat as they seek to weaken PKR, now fraying at the seams with reports of dissatisfaction in its head office and Sabah.
But the Selangor mentri besar brushed aside talk of cutting allocations and dared Umno, now buoyed by its win in Bagan Pinang, to ask for a contest in the Port Klang seat.
“They should take us on if they are so confident,” Khalid said of the traditionally Umno seat.
The Port Klang assemblyman quit PKR and announced he was becoming an independent state lawmaker who is friendly to Barisan National (BN) because his state allocations had been cut and he had lost confidence in the party’s leadership.
However Khalid said Badrul’s allocations were not cut but ‘controlled’.
“This is because we wanted to know what programmes he was organising before he made any claims.
“Of course we are not going pay for activities carried out in his house because it nothing to do with the community,” he added.
He said Badrul had wanted compensation for his house, which he claimed he used as an office.
“When he didn’t get the money, he started to sulk,” said Khalid.
Each Pakatan state lawmaker is allocated RM500,000 a year to carryout small projects in their constituencies but Badrul’s funds were being managed by Seri Setia assemblyman Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad, who is Khalid’s political secretary.
He added that Badrul’s resignation came as no surprise to the party and served as personal lesson to him Khalid) to select better leaders in the future.
“Many have criticised my decision, to demand his resignation, as being ‘politically stupid’ but I believe we need to be transparent and forthright,” said Khalid.
He reiterated that Badrul had made a promise to serve when he was elected and should step down for failing to live up to his obligations.
