By Teoh El Sen - Free Malaysia Today
PETALING JAYA: PS Jenapala, the dark horse in the race for PKR's deputy presidency, has given party secretary-general Saifuddin Nasution Ismail 24 hours to provide proof of his sacking.
Failing which, the former deputy secretary-general warned that he would file a complaint with the Registrar of Societies or sue the party leaders for defamation.
"I am giving him 24 hours to provide documentary proof to back the claim that I was sacked in February 2009," said Jenapala, who quit his post in 2008 after he was declared a bankrupt.
He was responding to the party leadership's claim that he was not eligible to contest because he was sacked for criticising PKR and forming another political party.
Yesterday, Saifuddin had issued a statement that Jenapala cannot be nominated for any post as he was no longer a PKR member.
He also labelled Jenapala a "traitor" to the party's struggle since he had questioned and criticised the integrity of the party elections with "baseless accusations" and "lies".
Jenapala, who claims that his name was still on the membership list and that he had a member card to prove it, said that the party constitution states that a sacking must be endorsed by the supreme council.
"If at all I criticised the party or went against the party, they would have had to send me a show cause letter first. There should have been an investigation. There was no black and white at all.
“It's just that they are white and I am black," he added.
Jenapala urged Saifuddin to reveal when the supreme council had deliberated on his fate and to provide the date and time of the said meeting.
“I want to remind the secretary-general that I still have many influential friends in the party, and some of them sit in the supreme council," he said.
They have an axe to grind
Jenapal also accused the party leaders of having an axe to grind with him because he had the courage to call a spade a spade.
“You call yourself Parti Keadilan, but where is the justice Mr Nasution?" he asked, claiming that party leaders were attempting to divert attention from the issues he raised.
At a press conference yesterday, Jenapala claimed that party supremo Anwar Ibrahim and vice-president Azmin Ali were using underhand tactics to clinch the number two post.
Although Anwar has remained neutral on the surface, it is widely speculated that the PKR supremo wants his protege Azmin as the next deputy president.
Despite Jenapala's presence in the race, the real battle for number two is said to be between Azmin and PKR supreme council member Zaid Ibrahim.
He must exhaust all avenues
Meanwhile, PKR's Balik Pulau MP Yusmadi Yusoff, who heads the party poll watchdog "My Democracy Watch", said the protocol for a member to be sacked was for an incident or complaint to be forwarded to the disciplinary committee.
"The committee would then issue a show-cause letter to the member to clarify the matter. The committee would then investigate or call up the member for clarification and recommend action based on its findings.
"Then there is also the supreme council where you could appeal against your sacking. But if that procedure was not followed, then you should fight against it,” he said.
In Jenapala's case, Yusmadi said the former should exhaust all avenues - first by filing a complaint with the Elections Steering Committee chairperson Dr Molly Cheah, the disciplinary committee and supreme council.
“If all these fail, then we (My Democracy Watch) would help him if we find the complaint to be responsible," he added.
Jenapala joined PKR after being expelled from PPP as its Ipoh Barat branch chairman in 1998 for allegedly working against the party and undermining its objectives.
He claimed that he was the first batch to join PKR in 1998.
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