PETALING JAYA, Nov 24 — PKR has fired a central leadership committee (CLC) member and an ordinary member from the party, on grounds of corruption and bribery.
The party’s disciplinary board chairman Datuk Ahmad Kassim said the decision on CLC member Zakaria Abdul Hamid, and Ismail Dul Hadi is with immediate effect.
“After receiving a letter from the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) earlier this month, dated October 23, the CLC in its meeting today decided to take action, consistent with PKR’s stance on no compromise with corruption,” he said during a press conference at PKR’s headquarters.
Ahmad said per the party constitution, both members have the right to appeal to the party president against the decision.
“Letters will be sent out to the two in a short while,” he said.
PKR communications director Fahmi Fadzil said the letter from MACC concerned a claim of corruption it investigated during the party’s internal election last year.
“They investigated both Zakaria and Ismail, before asking us in the letter to take appropriate action. Hence the discipline board’s decision to immediately relieve them of their membership,” he said, adding that MACC will also be informed of this new development as soon as possible.
When asked of the details concerning the investigations, Fahmi said they are confidential, only confirming that it involved corruption and bribery.
“In this case, the circumstances are special since MACC’s letter to us was quite clear and detailed. In the event they are later not found guilty, the party constitution is clear on filing an appeal as the primary mechanism to address this,” he said.
Zakaria, the division leader for Bera, Pahang, was formerly the political secretary to Works Minister Baru Bian. His superior had welcomed efforts to investigate Zakaria in September last year, after a police report was lodged against the latter.
The report was filed by PKR Youth coordinator Ahmad Syukri Che Ab Razab on September 25, 2018, which alleged Zakaria abused his position as a civil servant by promising to give contracts worth RM20,000 and allocations amounting to at least RM300,000, which was made during a meeting with local leaders on September 1 in Pahang.
Not much is known about Ismail, beyond the fact that he is a Pahang PKR ordinary member.
