Penang municipal councillors from PKR and DAP have stepped up their campaign to urge the state government to sack their colleague from PAS, Iszuree Ibrahim, following his criticism. – The Malaysian Insider pic by Hasnoor Hussain, September 29, 2014.
Councillors from the Penang Municipal Council (MPPP) have launched a signature drive among councillors to push for the sacking of their PAS counterpart, Iszuree Ibrahim.
The campaign launched by councillors from DAP and PKR has so far gathered 15 signatures.
There are 23 councillors in MPPP, ten of whom are from DAP, eight from PKR, two from PAS, and three from non-governmental organisations.
Councillor Chris Lee of DAP said they are serious in asking the state government to end Iszuree's tenure, and said their petition would be submitted to the state today.
Several councillors held a press conference at Komtar this morning to rebute Iszuree, over his statement accusing the Penang state government of favouring big developers.
They slammed him for likening the state government to Barisan Nasional, following an article published by an online news portal on September 19.
At the recent PAS muktamar in Johor, Iszuree reportedly criticised the eviction of traditional residents to make way for development projects in Penang.
He said there was a perception among the grassroots that Pakatan Rakyat leaders were now friendlier with developers and less interested in listening to the voices of the people.
Mohd Hariszuan Jaharudin, another councillor from DAP, said Iszuree neglected to mention what the state government had done.
"What he said was one-sided, not showing the real situation... As a senior councillor, he should know that his statement can easily be manipulated.
"And he had no interest to stop there and worsened the situation by posting the Mao Ze Dong remark on Facebook. Was that misquoted too?"
Hariszuan was referring to Iszuree's Facebook posting following his suspension from the public health, finance and planning standing committees last Friday, in which he said there was no freedom of speech in Penang.
"What is the use of the Speakers Conner at Padang Kota? Rule of Muo Tze Tong (sic)... full of envy and vengeance," he wrote.
Iszuree, who is Penang PAS treasurer, had previously claimed to have been misquoted, but his colleagues in MPPP were not satisfied.
Another councillor from DAP, Harvindar Singh, said Iszuree should know the ethics, discipline and collective responsibility as a councillor.
"All government decisions are made through a consensus... he cannot compare the freedom of speech for the public at the Speaker's Corner and that for a member of the goverment.
"The government and MPPP have always been open to criticism and views as long as it is not slander... we hope Iszuree will stop making matters worse and confusing the people," he said.
Councillor Tay Leong Seng said Iszuree was only suspended with his allocations frozen, but he could still attend full council meetings and play his role as a councillor.
Contacted by reporters, PAS state secretary Mohd Fadzil Kemi said the matter will be settled internally after state commissioner Mohamad Sabu's meeting with Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng.
He said Penang PAS decided last Saturday that Mohamad would meet Lim.
"It is better for the leaders to talk and settle this internally instead of us talking through the media."
- TMI
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