Mansor lashes out at PKR’s Zahrain, Tan

Written by Regina William, The Edge

Penang’s Deputy Chief Minister 1 Mansor Othman says Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) would not “cry” if one or two leaders, who had expressed their unhappiness over the state of affairs in Penang led by DAP’s Lim Guan Eng, left the party.

The Penang PKR chief said if these leaders, namely PKR’s Bayan Baru MP Datuk Seri Zahrain Hashim and Nibong Tebal MP Tan Tee Beng, who have been hitting out at Lim, decided to leave the PKR, it was not a “big loss”.

Mansor has also been accused by the duo of being a “yes” man to Lim, and has in recent days been the target of personal attacks.

“We are not going to cry about them leaving, if they do leave.

“Who are they to say that those of us who are in the state government have veered off from our party struggles and have compromised our beliefs?

“Those making the allegations have only been in the party for two years unlike others like me who have been there from day one in 1999 since the party was formed, so do not question us about struggles. Who are they to say that we have lost our direction?

“Why is Zahrain creating a ruckus now about how the state government is run? Why didn’t he do so when he was the PKR Penang chief for years?” Mansor asked.

Mansor was appointed PKR Penang chief in 1999 but was replaced by Zahrain for at least five years before Mansor was reappointed by PKR supremo Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim to replace Zahrain after he won the Penanti by-election last year.

Ironically, it was Tan who led a group of PKR division chiefs to petition Zahrain’s removal as the Penang head.

On Tan’s statement calling on the Pakatan Rakyat (PR) in Penang to remove Lim as the chief minister, Mansor said it was his (Tan’s) own personal stance which did not reflect PKR’s position.

Mansor was at a press conference with DAP state chairman Chow Kon Yeow, who is also the local government exco.

Chow and Mansor were refuting allegations by the Penang Malay Chamber of Commerce and several other Muslim NGOs accusing the state government and the local council of targeting Malays in their enforcement of illegal structures.

Based on statistics on the enforcement by the Penang Island Municipal Council (MPPP), Chow said it was never the state government nor MPPP practice to target certain races.

He also provided the number of contracts given out by the MPPP which showed a high percentage given out to bumiputera contractors in 2009 compared to previous years.

He even showed that enforcement against Malays for various offences by the local council had been “higher” under the Barisan Nasional (BN) rule. He also questioned why the chamber, which has representation in the MPPP, never raised the matter.

“Why go to the media when they had every avenue to do so, as at one point even the chamber president was appointed a councillor by the state government and even now they are still represented?” Chow asked.

Mansor also hit out at his detractors who had accused him of playing out the Malays.

“They should base their allegations of facts and not just sentiments or emotions and not make unfound accusations. If they have proof, they should come forward with facts, not wild allegations.

“This state government has done more for Malays and Muslims in this state compared to the BN government and the perception that I must look after the Malays only is wrong.

“I do not only represent the Malays in Penang, but I look after the interests of other races as well, likewise the chief minister also does the same.

“If there are any indications that certain races are given priority over others, rest assured that we will not tolerate them,” he added.

Mansor also announced a one-month cooling off period on the demolition of illegal structures in Penang.

He called on NGOs and also the chamber to come forward with suggestions on how to settle the matter instead of fanning baseless racial sentiments.