SHAH ALAM: Kapar MP S Manikavasagam who was yesterday adamant that he would steer clear of a public inquiry into allegations of graft in Selangor's sand-mining industry, had a change of heart and turned up.
He was armed with evidence of his allegations which included documents, photographs, details of his witnesses and “incriminating” footage. He said he planned to hand them over to the Selangor State Legislative Assembly speaker and then leave without testifying.
However, he was informed via text message by a staff from the state assembly office to return tomorrow morning as there were already five witnesses lined up for the day.
Selangor executive councillor Yaakop Sapari was earlier called as the first witness by the Select Committee on Competency, Accountability and Transparency (Selcat).
When asked whether he would be testifying tomorrow, Manikavasagam maintained that he would not unless he is granted leave from the Dewan Rakyat by today.
“I am only going to hand over the documents to the speaker and leave,” he insisted when contacted by FMT. “As I mentioned yesterday, I cannot testify or I will be in contempt of the Dewan Rakyat.”
Manikavasagam had earlier cited parliamentary rules that prevented him from testifying at Selcat's hearing without permission from the Dewan Rakyat.
His lawyer, N Surendran, yesterday sent a letter to Selcat asking it to request for leave from Dewan Rakyat for Manikavasagam to attend the hearing.
“I will be sending a letter today to [Dewan Rakyat speaker] Pandikar (Amin Mulia ) seeking his views on this matter,” Manikavasagam added. “The letter will be accompanied by all the correspondences between my side and Selcat so he can understand my predicament. I want to testify so I'm hoping for a favourable response from him.”
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