KUALA LUMPUR, March 18 — Penang Deputy Chief Minister 1 Fairus Khairuddin could be leaving his post tomorrow, as Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim moves to clean up PKR amid concerns his party is the weak link in Pakatan Rakyat (PR).
By moving to remove Fairus, PKR may be trying to limit damage from an unsavoury episode and show the public that the PR alliance has a low tolerance for wrongdoing.
Fairus has been a source of controversy from day one of his appointment as deputy chief minister after the DAP-led PR administration took power last March.
He had been ticked off by Anwar for not even visiting his constituency, and he was later on forced to quit as Penang Football Association president because he had shown little interest in the job.
Speculation is also rife tonight that he may also be resigning as Penanti assemblyman under a cloud of allegations that he abused his power as DCM.
The removal of Fairus comes after allegations surfaced last week that two of PKR’s state leaders were on the take.
Allegations were made by another state PKR leader that two party leaders had allegedly accepted bribes from three quarry companies operating in Prai.
The state PKR began an internal probe this week into the accusations.
It is unclear so far if Fairus is one of two leaders who are the subject of the probe.
But it is understood that Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) officials have already started probing allegations of abuse of power involving Fairus.
Earlier this year, Fairus had been replaced as state religious affairs committee chairman by a PKR colleague.
Besides the cloud of suspicion, Fairus has been heavily criticised for poor performance as a state executive councillor, putting tremendous pressure on Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng.
The state executive council has 11 members of which three are from PKR and the rest from the DAP.
Fairus’s appointment as one of two DCMs was based on recommendations from his party under PR’s power sharing agreement.
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