SHAH ALAM, Nov 28 — Penang PKR assemblyman Cheah Kah Peng was applauded at his party’s national congress today when he explained that he had abstained from voting on a Barisan Nasional (BN) motion during the state assembly in order to defend public interest.

In delivering his motion to the Keadilan National Congress 2015 today on the need for separation of power between executive and legislative bodies, he used the recent vote on making future land reclamation projects open to public hearings as an example.

“Our assemblymen in Penang made the decision not to vote. As representatives who have the responsibility of care for the needs of the public, are we not allowed to defend the public’s interests?,” he asked the crowd, who cheered him on.

“Simply for defending the rights of the rakyat, we are called names and all kinds of bad words are thrown at us. We are truly a party that safeguards the rights of the rakyat and we will forever, no matter how you challenge us, we will continue to fight until the rights of the rakyat are defended,” he added.

The DAP-led state administration has been under pressure from environmental activists as well as lawmakers from both sides of the political divide over the high number of land reclamation projects being rolled out.

Cheah, along with Ong Chin Wen, Norlela Ariffin, Dr T. Jayabalan and Lee Khai Loon had taken a stand to be neutral during voting at the debate session submitted by an elected representative from BN in the state assembly sitting last week.

The sole DAP assemblyman who voted for it, Teh Yee Cheu, later apologised for his action, calling it “a mistake” while PKR released a statement stating that its representatives are allowed conscience voting including abstaining from voting due to public interest.