Thesun 2009-06-19 Page03 Paul Low To Quit Mca

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| FRIDAY JUNE 19 2009

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Air Pollutant Index readings at 5pm yesterday (0-50: Good 51-100: Moderate 101-200: Unhealthy)

Tanjung Malim Port Klang Sungai Petani Seberang Jaya 2 Taiping

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Paul Low to quit MCA by Tim Leonard [email protected]

PETALING JAYA: Transparency International-Malaysia (TI-Malaysia) president Datuk Paul Low yesterday said he would resign as an MCA member to set the record straight on his appointment as head of the Ad-hoc Committee On Corporate Governance For The Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ). Low was responding to issues raised by DAP veteran and Ipoh Timur MP Lim Kit Siang over his ability to carry out his duties impartially in light of his affiliations with the MCA. Lim had in parliament on Tuesday questioned Low’s eligibility to sit on the PKFZ panel because of his affiliations with the MCA. “I joined the MCA as a life member in 1991, at the time when the NEP (New Economic Policy) had expired and there was a need to prepare the new OPP (Outline Perspective Plan),” Low said in a statement yesterday. “For this purpose, the government had set up the Necci (National Economic Consultative Council) to discuss and formulate recommendations for the

subsequent plan,” he said. “At that time, I felt the need to participate in these consultations as I believed I would be able to contribute meaningfully. But to be given a place to participate, I would have to be proposed by a political party. Hence the MCA offered me the opportunity and I accepted. This explains my membership and also involvement in its think-tank. “Subsequently, I have had no involvement in any political activities of MCA and I had long forgotten that my membership still exists. But, as it is highlighted that my membership in MCA may be perceived as an impairment to my impartiality, I will now initiate my resignation and thus revoke my membership in MCA.” Low said that as president of TIMalaysia, he must observe strict standards of ethics and impartiality. “I have chosen to accept the appointment to head the ad hoc committee because TI-Malaysia strongly believes it can contribute significantly to improving the system of governance and integrity in government agencies such as PKFZ. “It is my hope and that of TI-Malaysia that through our involvement in PKFZ,

we will be able to make this agency an exemplary model of integrity. “I also hope that from the lessons learnt and the subsequent implementation of measures to enhance good governance, similar practices or reform can be replicated in other government agencies or institutions at the federal and state levels regardless of their political affiliations.” He also said that as head of the ad hoc committee, he was not obliged to meet the expectations or personal preferences of individuals in business or politics. “What the members of the committee and I need to ensure is that best practices and a high level of governance are put in place in PKFZ. This is the committee’s main mission. “Although there may be a need to review the events highlighted in the PricewaterhouseCoopers report in order to get a clear understanding of the weaknesses and lapses in governance, it is not the role of the committee to investigate individuals or parties involved directly or indirectly. “This, I understand clearly is the purview of the MACC (Malaysian Anticorruption Commission).”

by Karen Arukesamy [email protected]

KUALA LUMPUR: Former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad yesterday told PAS to “spell out” what it meant by a unity government in order to end all confusion over the matter. “They (PAS) have not actually spelt out what the unity government is all about. There is much confusion,” he said after officiating at the 11th International Surveyors Congress yesterday. “I cannot think how it is going to happen. If it’s going to be PAS and Umno alone, then you are going to have a Malay government. Is Umno going to leave its component parties and join PAS to form a unity government? That is not unity, you would have to break off (from the coalition) first,” Mahathir said. Visibly upset, he questioned how anyone having made a “promise” to work as a coalition could later choose to leave that alliance to work with others. Stressing that the country’s (administrative) system had always had representatives from all communities, Mahathir said: “I still think Barisan Nasional is the best system we can have in this country. “If PAS and Umno want to have a unity government, then on one side there would be a Chinese party and the other an Indian party. That is not unity.” This, he said, would not achieve

unity among Malaysians but “maybe among Malays”. Mahathir said he was uncertain whether the call for a unity government was only for Umno or for all other BN component parties. “I feel it is difficult for Umno to leave its allies to join PAS, likewise PAS with two of its allies.” Talk of a unity government has been the subject of much controversy since it was mooted last year by PAS president Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang and again after the issue was raised at the party’s recent muktamar. In the latest developments, it has caused a rift in the party, with its spiritual leader Datuk Seri Nik Aziz Nik Mat telling deputy president Nasharudin Mat Isa to quit and join Umno if he persisted with the idea. “But in this country, we need an opposition team. It is something we should uphold,” Mahathir said. However, he said, the Opposition should raise criticism when the government does something wrong and not just for the sake of criticism. On another note, Mahathir said he did not understand the “1Malaysia” concept mooted by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Abdul Razak. “When you come up with a concept or an idea, you must define and spell it out properly. I am not in a position to comment on all this because I am just confused. I cannot comment on very vague words like this.”

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Johor Sultan says no to 3rd bridge JOHOR BARU: The Sultan of Johor, Sultan Iskandar Ismail, is not in favour of the proposed construction of a third bridge linking Malaysia and Singapore on the eastern side of Johor. The sultan’s stand on the matter was conveyed by the Tunku Mahkota of Johor Tunku Ibrahim Ismail who represented his father at the opening of a state legislative assembly sitting in Kota Iskandar, Nusajaya yesterday. “I have been instructed by His Royal Highness Tuanku to inform (the assembly) that he does not agree with the proposal to build the third bridge,” Tunku Ibrahim said. Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Abdul Razak had recently disclosed that Singapore Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew had, during a meeting with him in Putrajaya, voiced the island republic’s interest in building the third bridge with Malaysia. In his speech delivered by Tunku Ibrahim, the sultan also advised the people to support government efforts to boost the economy. “Although there is currently an economic downturn, the people must be confident that Johor’s economy has a strong foundation,” he said. The sultan also called on the people to uphold the Federal Constitution to ensure that the country remained stable and peaceful. “Unity among the people must be safeguarded so that they can live in harmony. There must be solidarity, as solidarity is a blessing.” – Bernama

Traditional welcome .... Residents of Manai Nanga San longhouse in Batang Ai, Lubok Antu, welcome Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Abdul Abdul Razak during a meet-the-people session. Najib is on a two-day working visit to Sarawak which ended yesterday.

Suit against NSTP dismissed with costs GEORGE TOWN: The High Court yesterday dismissed with costs a defamation suit brought against the News Straits Times Press Berhad by prominent businessman Tan Sri Tan Kok Ping at the end of a hearing which has dragged on for three years. Justice Datuk Ghazali Cha, in his written judgment, ordered Tan to pay the costs of the suit including legal fees of the defendants. “I have found that the defendants have succeeded in their defence of qualified privilege and that the impugned articles are therefore immune from suit,” he said. Ghazali said an ordinary reader of the articles would not be overly presumptuous in immediately inferring guilt on the part of the plaintiff. “The impugned articles had merely pro vided an account of police investigations into an alleged forged letter, and NSTP had

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BERNAMAPIX

Spell out what unity govt means: Mahathir

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Shah Alam Pengkalan Chepa Petaling Jaya Cheras

acted responsibly in the publication of the article by verifying it with police.” Ghazali also said the articles had conveyed to the public that no person is above the law and is subject to the due process of the law irrespective of his status. In his suit against the NSTP, Tan had named its then chief editor Tan Sri Abdullah Ahmad as second defendant and then journalist V. Ramanan as third defendant. He had claimed that words contained in articles published on April 5, 2002 in NSTP publications – the News Straits Times and the Malay Mail – were defamatory in nature. Tan claimed the articles contained words that inferred he was guilty of forging a letter used to secure his appointment as chairman of the Magnum Corporation.

Students fined RM3,900 each for illegal assembly KUALA LUMPUR: Five former university students were yesterday fined RM3,900 or three months jail each by a magistrate’s court here after they were found guilty of taking part in an illegal assembly at the National Mosque eight years ago. Magistrate Azniza Mohd Ali imposed the sentence on Nik Norhafizi Nik Ibrahim, 29, Zulkefle Idris, 29, Ahmad Kamal Abdul Hamid, 28, Rafzan Ramli, 32, and Khairul Amal Mahmud, 28. Norhafizi and Ahmad were then students of Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Zulkefli of Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, Rafzan of Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM), and Khairul of Universiti Malaya. Another former UiTM student, Helman Sanuddin, 32, was acquitted and

discharged after the court found that the prosecution had failed to establish a prima facie case against him. The defendants were charged under Section 27(5)(a) of the Police Act 1967 for taking part in the assembly on June 8, 2001. – Bernama

Celebration for Najib PETALING JAYA: The MCA, Associated Chinese Chambers of Commerce and Industry of Malaysia (ACCCIM), Hua Zong (Federation of Chinese Associations of Malaysia) and Malaysian Seven Clans Association will jointly host a ceremony to celebrate the election of Datuk Seri Najib Abdul Razak as the sixth prime minister. The celebration, starting at 7.30pm, will be held in the Putrajaya International Convention Centre (PICC), Dewan Perdana, on June 27. For enquiries, call 03-21618044.

Nizar to file leave to appeal Court of Appeal decision PUTRAJAYA: Perak Pakatan Rakyat Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Mohammad Nizar Jamaluddin will tomorrow file an application at the Federal Court registry for leave to appeal a Court of Appeal decision declaring Datuk Dr Zambry Abdul Kadir the rightful mentri besar of Perak. On May 22, the Court of Appeal allowed an appeal by Zambry to set aside a High Court decision declaring Nizar as the legitimate mentri besar. In reversing the High Court decision, it held that the Sultan of Perak was right in making enquiries to satisfy himself that Nizar had ceased to command the confidence of the majority of the state assembly. – Bernama