KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 21 — Padang Serai MP N. Gobalakrishnan is risking his political future with PKR as the disciplinary board has summoned him for failing to respond to a show-cause letter over his tirade against the top party leadership.
Party secretary-general Saifuddin Nasution confirmed with The Malaysian Insider that the next step in PKR’s disciplinary process was for the board to convene a hearing as Gobalakrishnan had failed to make the January 17 deadline on the show-cause letter issued last December 31.
“He refused to respond to the letter from us although we sent him a second notice earlier this month and granted him an extension on his deadline,” he added.
The party leadership had initially granted Gobalakrishnan a week to reply to its 45-page show-cause letter, which was faxed to the latter’s office on January 4.
Following a complaint from the former party vice-president that he needed more time to sift through the lengthy letter, the party later relented and in a second notice dated January 10, informed him that his deadline had been extended to January 17.
But the MP complained to reporters on Wednesday that Saifuddin had failed to carry out his duties as the secretary-general, alleging the second letter had only reached him on January 17 itself.
“How can they expect me to respond by the 17th if the letter only reached me on the 17th?” he had told the press when met at the launch of Datuk Zaid Ibrahim’s new “Kita” party here.
Gobalakrishnan then declared that he would not respond to the letter, despite the likelihood that he would be reprimanded for his actions.
On micro-blogging site Twitter later, the outspoken MP continued his outburst against the PKR leadership, particularly against its de facto leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim and deputy president Azmin Ali.
Saifuddin denied that he had failed to issue the deadline extension letter to Gobalakrishan on time, pointing out that the party had used all communication methods to ensure that the MP received the notice.
“We sent it to him via email and even AR registered (mail).
“He is a very IT savvy man, look at him on Twitter... so I am very sure that he received our letter on time,” he said.
He added that as a senior politician, Gobalakrishnan should be able to accept the next course of action he would likely face for his actions.
“As far as the party is concerned, we are just following procedures.
“Now that he has refused and has failed to respond to us, the next step is for him to face the disciplinary board,” he said.
The board, added Saifuddin, would soon determine a date and time to convene a hearing against Gobalakrishnan.
The outspoken MP kicked off his tirade against the Anwar-Azmin duo during the party’s elections last year, which he complained had been fraught with irregularities.
He later took his fight to Twitter and for much of December last year, dedicated his timeline space to sharp criticisms against the duo.
Among others, Gobalakrishnan has accused both men of failing to protect the interests of the Indian community and for ignoring the needs and requests of many party loyalists.
Gobalakrishnan has also continually taunted Anwar for “failing to walk the talk”, claiming that the veteran leader’s only dream was to stake his claim over Putrajaya and ensure a cushy position for Azmin.
At the Kita launch on Wednesday, Gobalakrishnan sang praises of Zaid, who himself had stalked out of PKR after coming at odds with the leadership during the polls.
However, while he described Kita as a “beautiful party launched by a beautiful man”, Gobalakrishnan claimed he would continue to remain in PKR.
Both Gobalakrishnan and Zaid are among the many top leaders who went public with their complaints against the PKR leadership, particularly against Anwar.
Besides Zaid, several other leaders have also left the party ranks citing loss of confidence in the leadership. These include Bayan Baru MP Datuk Seri Zahrain Hashim, Nibong Tebal MP Tan Tee Beng, Wangsa Maju MP Wee Choo Keong and Bagan Serai MP Mohsin Samsuri.
Another MP, Kulim-Bandar Baharu’s Zulkifli Noordin, also from Kedah like Gobalakrishnan, was sacked from PKR after he faced the disciplinary board last year for crossing swords with the leadership in the controversial “Allah” row.
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