GEORGE TOWN: The acting chairman of PKR Bayan Baru may have got himself into hot water over a dinner function featuring Anwar Ibrahim and other big names.
Tan Seng Keat, who took over the division’s leadership following the defection of Zahrain Mohd Hashim, planned the dinner without consulting the divisional committee.
With the divisional election just around the corner, some suspect Tan has a personal agenda: he is trying to ingratiate himself with Anwar and other party leaders.
Tan has apologised for not consulting the committee, but some members of the division, including committee members, are still seething with dissatisfaction, if not outright anger.
Tan and a few colleagues planned the dinner for Aug 8 to accommodate Anwar. Apart from the PKR adviser, the other guests are Zaid Ibrahim and Chua Jui Meng.
Tan informed the committee of the plan at a meeting last July 17. His critics said this notice was too short and accused him of taking the committee for granted.
Sources said the 25-member committee had not discussed the dinner project in any of its meetings and was not aware of it until Tan’s announcement.
They claimed Tan and his “secret team” of a few committee members and several outsiders had already finalised the plan before securing the committee’s endorsement.
“We were treated like rubber stamps,” said a committee member.
Fierce argument
During the July 17 meeting, said a source, a “fierce argument broke out over the matter”, ending only after Tan had apologised.
Speaking to FMT, Tan admitted that the dinner plan was hatched by a small group of people a few days before the meeting.
“We quickly worked out the plan and fixed the dinner date based on the availability of Anwar,” he said.
However, he denied that he had shown disrespect to the committee members, saying the division had planned the dinner for June and then aborted it.
He said he “quickly grabbed the chance” when he heard that Anwar was available on Aug 8.
“It happened so fast, just three days before the committee meeting,” he said.
“So some of us got together to work it out in detail and tabled it at the meeting for approval.”
However, sources denied that the division had ever planned a dinner in June, saying Tan may have been referring to a public rally where Chua was to speak.
“The dinner was never on the agenda,” said a source.
Asked whether there was enough time to organise the dinner, Tan said the division members had vast experience in organising big events on short notice.
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