Zuraida to keep calm and carry on with duties, says aide

At the end of the 14-day notice given to respond, an aide to PKR vice-president Zuraida Kamarudin today submitted her reply to a show-cause letter issued by the party's disciplinary board.

Zuraida's political secretary Noor Hizwan Ahmad later told reporters that the minister will continue with her daily duties, amid calls from within PKR for her removal as vice-president.

"YB Zuraida (above) will keep calm. YB will continue to work as usual as vice-president of the party as well as a minister.

"She will continue to serve and it is up to the judgment and further actions by the disciplinary board," he said.

Noor Hizwan arrived at the PKR headquarters around 12.45pm together with about 100 supporters, and they were met by a separate group who called on party leaders to sack Zuraida.

Police officers were on site since noon to separate the two groups.

Noor Hizwan (photo) also revealed that the show-cause letter contained three main questions which were answered by Zuraida, including on her controversial remarks made during last Dec 8 dinner at the Renaissance Hotel.

During his brief meeting with the disciplinary board, the aide said he had informed them of Zuraida's reservation towards some of the claims, as reference was made to reported excerpts of her remarks.

"In the show-cause letter, they made references to her speech in the form of reported quotes, but we were not provided with the (exact) quotes.

"However, out of respect to the disciplinary board, we still answered the questions," Noor Hizwan added.

The PKR disciplinary board had issued Zuraida with the show-cause letter, believed to be over her remarks against PKR president Anwar Ibrahim.

She was among leaders aligned to PKR deputy president Azmin Ali who spoke during a gathering of their supporters last Dec 8, at the height of a perceived rift within the party, marked by a walkout from the final day of PKR's annual congress.

Since then, Anwar had made various public overtures to reconcile with Azmin, who together with Zuraida, attended the party's political bureau meeting on Jan 9 after over a year of absence. - Mkini