6 reasons PKR wants Khalid out
PKR has listed six reasons Tan Sri Abdul Khalid Ibrahim should be removed as Selangor menteri besar in an attempt to convince its partners, PAS and DAP, that a better candidate was needed to helm the country's richest state.
In a report distributed to the Pakatan Rakyat pact's top leaders, PKR said the issues which affected the two-term MB's integrity included his RM66.67 million debt settlement with Bank Islam, which was settled out of court, and the subsequent dealings on the sale of state land to developers, the controversial Kidex highway project, Selangor water deal with Putrajaya and issues related to hikes in business licence fees, rubbish collection and potholes.
In the 24-page report, PKR described Khalid's out-of-court settlement with Bank Islam over his RM67 million debt as unusual because the bank had a strong case against the MB.
"Bank Islam's decision not to pursue the case which is winnable is out of the ordinary," said the report.
The report said the settlement was also reached outside the knowledge of Bank Islam's lawy firm Tommy Thomas and was only made public after the bank had dropped all charges at the last minute in February.
The report also cited that Khalid’s political secretary had met with an Umno corporate figure – Tan Sri Rashid Manaf – to discuss ways to settle the debt.
"In the end, Khalid's political secretary did confirm that the MB had met with Rashid on the matter," it said.
PKR secretary-general Datuk Saifuddin Nasution Ismail yesterday said he would come out with explanatory notes on the plan to oust Khalid, which included the MB's alleged dubious deals.
Khalid had challenged his party to lodge a report with the authorities on the claims and also threatened to take legal action against the "defamatory statements".
The report noted that in March, a month after Bank Islam dropped its loan settlement suit against Khalid, two business deals worth hundreds of millions of ringgit were signed between the Selangor government and Ecoworld Berhad, a company controlled by Rashid.
PKR said Rashid was close to Umno and also an ex-lawyer to former finance minister Tun Daim Zainuddin.
The report said similar doubts were raised at the same time when the “Kajang move” was hatched.
"Just as the move was announced, news about Khalid's deal with Bank Islam began circulating," the report said.
Among other issues raised included the water deal with Putrajaya and opposition leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim's Sodomy II appeal case.
The report said Khalid had signed the water restructuring agreement on February 26 and a day later, coincidentally, the Court of Appeals registrar alerted Anwar on the hearing date of the case.
Anwar was found guilty on March 7 and lost his qualification to contest in the Kajang by-election.
"All these facts raised a lot of doubts over Khalid's integrity.”
PKR also claimed that Khalid, until today, has failed to provide any explanation on the issues raised despite being asked to do so.
On the water restructuring, it had come to the party's attention that Selangor was on the losing end.
This was because the federal government obtained Selangor’s approval to construct the Langat 2 water treatment plant, but Putrajaya was not obligated to force a takeover of the water concessionaires.
"He (the MB) failed to use public pressure to get the water concessionaires to agree despite knowing the relationship between the companies and Umno and Barisan Nasional," the report said.
PKR disagree with Khalid's “boardroom deal” method to secure the agreement.
Another strong reason was Khalid's open endorsement of the Kinrara Damansara Expressway (Kidex) project despite strong objections from the people.
"His open support and refusal to listen to opposing views is against Anwar's call against burdening the people with more toll charges," the report said.
Another three reasons were potholes, cleanliness and rubbish collection and the three-fold increase of business licence fees amid the rising cost of living.
Khalid has resisted all attempts to remove him, and said he would remain as MB until the end of this term.
He was issued a show-cause letter by PKR today for going against the party's decision to replace him with president Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail.
PKR disciplinary board chairman Datuk Dr Tan Kee Kwong said the party's political bureau met two days ago and had directed the board to issue the letter to Khalid. – August 5, 2014.
