Gobala's exit and attacks cash greased, says PKR

Gobala is suddenly rich, says PKR

Saifuddin Nasution accuses the Padang Serai MP of betraying the party for money.

KUALA LUMPUR: PKR today accused Independent Padang Serai MP N Gobalakrishnan of receiving payment for betraying the party, but the latter has dismissed the charge as false.

PKR secretary-general Saifuddin Nasution Ismail showed reporters copies of two Hong Leong cheques for a total of RM1.4 million, supposedly signed by the party renegade.

The cheques were dated last Jan 12 and March 15. January and March were the months in which Gobalakrishnan made his most fiery attacks against PKR, Saifuddin noted.

“Where did the money come from? Who was so kind to help?” he said at a conference with reporters covering Parliament. He is the MP for Machang.

Gobalakrishnan, interviewed afterwards, said Saifuddin was jumping to conclusions.

“I’m not the one who signed the cheques,” he said. “The most I’ve ever signed is RM10,000, and I don’t think I’ve ever signed any cheques this year.”

Saifuddin told reporters that Gobalakrishnan ran into financial troubles after joining PKR in 1999 and alleged that he left the party because he could not get a position in a company controlled by a Pakatan Rakyat state government.

He also said Gobalakrishnan owned a company known as Embun Megah Sdn Bhd and that it was strange that the company was suddenly able to settle payment to Kumpulan Pertanian Kelantan Bhd (KPKB) over a land lease dispute in Lojing, Kelantan.

He alleged that it would have been impossible for Gobalakrishnan to get “this kind of money” to settle his business affairs if he had remained in the party.

“If Gobalakrishnan can settle RM1.4 million in three months, how much did he receive for betraying the party?”

Out-of-court settlement

Gobalakrishnan denied that he owned Embun Megah, but said his siblings had a “70 to 80 percent” share of the company and once had a legal dispute with KPKB, a minority shareholder.

He said Embun Megah and KPKB reached an out-of-court settlement last January and the siblings would have to pay out RM1.5 million.

The money, according to him, would come from a property developer who had agreed to work on the land in Lojing. The developer would pay another RM1 million to Embun Megah, he added. He did not name the developer.

Gobalakrishnan also attacked PKR supremo Anwar Ibrahim, alleging that he had not returned one of two cars he lent him two years ago.

He said Anwar borrowed the Nissan cars for his bodyguards in March 2009, and had returned only one of them.

Gobalakrishnan left PKR early this year, after publicly making a series criticisms against the party and its leaders.

PKR women leaders resign en bloc

Padang Serai PKR division is dealt another blow when the women's wing top brass calls it quit.

PADANG SERAI: Still reeling from the shock resignation of its chief N Gobalakrishnan, Padang Serai PKR division was dealt another blow when six of its women’s wing leaders quit the party en bloc on Sunday.

Those who quit were the wing chief B Deepa Shanthi, deputy chief R Vasanthi, who is also the party national women wing exco, secretary KM Vejaletchimy, treasurer M Reeta, and committee members P Santhi and C Palaniammal.

Their mass resignation from all party posts and membership left the wing virtually redundant with only three of its nine-member leadership committee still hanging on.

When contacted, Deepa Shanthi said the group decided to leave the party due to “internal marginalisation of Indians”.

“We can no longer stomach the wrong happenings in the party,” she told FMT today.

She said the out-going six have faxed their respective resignation letters to the party headquarters.

On last month’s Gobalakrishnan resignation, she said it clearly exposed PKR double-standards and hypocrisy in advocating its so-called multi-racial politics.

She slammed PKR leaders and candidates for betraying Indians in the country after promising so much during the last general election campaign.

“The leaders and candidates chanted Makkal Sakti mantra everywhere they wooed Indians.

“They stirred up high hopes among under-privileged Indians to envision a better life ahead by promising reforms and changes in system of governance.

“But now Indians are forgotten, sidelined and isolated lots in PKR agenda.

“PKR leaders and candidates only want Indian votes, not their problems,” said Deepa Shanthi.

The Makkal Sakti hymn, a battle cry of minority rights movement, Hindraf Makkal Sakti, was loudly sung by leaders and candidates from Pakatan Rakyat allies before Indian-dominated crowds during the election campaign in 2008.

Mesmerised by Hindraf activists and the mantra, ethnic Indians overwhelmingly backed Pakatan candidates, resulting in the coalition winning five states, one of which was re-captured by Barisan Nasional (BN) through a coup, and denying BN its parliamentary two-thirds majority.

But since then Indians are increasingly drifting away from Pakatan, with some returning to the BN fold.

Critics have blamed the incompetence of Pakatan state governments in Kedah, Penang and Selangor to address pressing Indian issues, especially Tamil schools, Hindu temples, burial grounds and Indian settlements, for causing this downslide.

Deepa Shanthi said Gobalakrishnan’s resignation was the result of marginalisation, discrimination and isolation of Indians in PKR and Pakatan.

After being a PKR loyalist and diehard supporter of PKR supremo Anwar Ibrahim for 12 years, the Padang Serai MP quit the party on Jan 29 amidst differences with the party leadership.

Prior to his resignation, Gobalakrishan was already crossing swords with the current party leadership controlled by Anwar and deputy president Azmin Ali.


His trouble started late last year when he complained about the blatant electoral malpractices that occurred in the party polls.

He accused Azmin and his gang of being the main culprits behind the electoral cheatings, fraudulence and irregularities that took place.

When asked whether more women members from PKR Padang Serai division would follow her out of the party, Deepa Shanthi said she and others would not persuade anyone to quit.

“Let them voluntarily decide their own political future… we are out of it now,” she said.

Meanwhile, the division secretary, S Nagalingam, said he was unaware about the mass resignation of the women’s wing top brass.

However, he assured that he would discuss the issue immediately with the division acting chairman Johari Ismail to resolve it amicably.

“We will restructure and reactivate the women’s wing with new faces,” he told FMT.

Don’t blame BN for Indian woes, Pakatan told

An ex-PKR leader and MIC's information chief disagree with PKR vice-president N Surendran's claim that BN is to be blamed for marginalising the community.

PETALING JAYA: Pakatan Rakyat states do not need financial aid from the federal government to resolve the Indian community’s woes, said former PKR leader N Gobalakrishnan.

“Poverty among Indians can be resolved by using the Land Act itself,” the Padang Serai MP told FMT.

He was responding to PKR vice-president N Surendran who blamed Barisan Nasional for the Indian community’s problems.

“It is very unbecoming for a senior PKR leader to blame BN for this,” said Gobalakrishnan.

Using the Coalfield estate issue as an example, he said the federal government had provided RM30,000 for the estate workers but there was nothing forthcoming from the Selangor government even though the estate was within Menteri Besar Khalid Ibrahim’s Ijok state constituency.

Gobalakrishnan also blamed Khalid for not providing land for the Coalfield estate workers.

Don’t play blame game

Meanwhile, MIC information chief S Murugessan called on PKR to stop playing the blame game and concentrate on providing for the people instead.

He said Surendran was just attempting to respond to DAP vice chairman M Kulasegaran who warned that Pakatan should forget about capturing Putrajaya if did not arrest the declining support among the Malay and Indian communities.

Murugesan said that even Hindraf Makkal Sakti leader P Uthayakumar had dismissed Pakatan’s track record of serving the Indians as being worse than BN’s.

Anwar will destroy Pakatan for Azmin, warns Gobala

Gobalakrishnan quit PKR recently, citing loss of confidence in the leadership. — File pic

KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 3 — N. Gobalakrishnan has continued his diatribe against Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, now predicting the break-up of the Pakatan Rakyat (PR) pact if the de facto leader continues playing favourites with his “blue-eyed boy” Azmin Ali.
 
The renegade leader, who recently quit PKR, told The Malaysian Insider that PAS and DAP leaders needed to do some serious “soul searching” if they wanted the pact to last and should advise Anwar to stop protecting his party’s deputy president.

“They will not last otherwise. If they do not speak to Anwar... they will not last. No way,” said the independent Padang Serai MP.

Gobalakrishnan claimed that Anwar’s constant protection of Azmin was quickly weakening PKR and this would eventually cause the downfall of PR.

PKR has often been described as the weakest link in PR’s armour but with its partners PAS and DAP constantly at loggerheads over religious policies, the multiracial party has also been viewed as the glue that keeps the pact intact. But it has remained united despite several MPs jumping ship over the past one year.
“A weak PKR leads to a weak PR because Anwar is the chosen leader... he is supposed to toe the line, he is supposed to be impartial as he is supposedly PR’s prime minister-designate.

“But now, Anwar is obviously ready to sacrifice anything; the support of the Indian community, the Malays, the Sabah and Sarawak natives, just for the sake of promoting Azmin.

“So if he keeps doing this, PKR will fall apart and then so will Pakatan,” he said.
Gobalakrishnan quit the PKR, citing his growing disillusionment with Anwar and his right-hand man Azmin and claiming that the duo often sidelined party loyalists for personal interests.

“I do not know what kind of knowledge or information that Azmin has that makes Anwar want to protect him so much. You should ask Anwar about that.

“But it is making PKR irrelevant,” he said.
The Padang Serai MP added that the PR pact needed to decide on “what to do with Anwar” and question the de facto leader why he was giving so much prominence to his former private secretary.

He said that PR leaders should even consider telling Azmin to leave politics for good.
“Tell him to be a businessman instead, since now the entire Selangor economy is controlled by Azmin and his cronies.

“If PR leaders feel Anwar is still needed and is still relevant, then they should tell him to choose between Azmin and PR,” he said.

Gobalakrishnan claimed that Azmin (picture) was weakening PKR. — File pic

But if Anwar was unwilling to let go of Azmin, added Gobalakrishnan, the leader should bow out from politics himself. He claimed that the Selangor administration was now in “shambles” because of Anwar and Azmin, saying that corruption could be found at every level.

“Corruption does not necessarily mean direct corruption.... it also means cronyism and nepotism... when these things are introduced, then corruption comes,” he said.

Anwar is currently the Selangor economic adviser while Azmin is the state assemblyman for Bukit Antarabangsa.

Gobalakrishnan said that from his conversations with many local councillors in the state, he had discovered that many had grown rich in their positions.

“They are given contracts, opportunities and they have grown rich. One councillor proudly told me how proud he was to be a councillor because of the opportunities. He has five cars in his house and he bought them all with cash,” he said.

“This is why (DAP adviser) Lim Kit Siang, (PAS president Datuk Seri) Abdul Hadi Awang must do some serious soul searching.

“They should use their powers to advise Anwar about this... otherwise, PR will just fall,” he said.
Gobalakrishnan is one of Anwar and Azmin’s biggest critics and joined the ranks of other former PKR dissident leaders last Saturday when he quit the party.

He had also announced that he would continue fighting for the Indian community via a new non-governmental organisation.

When pushed to answer if he planned to team up with former PKR leader leader Datuk Zaid Ibrahim in the latter’s new political party Kita, Gobalakrishnan kept mum.

“We are politicians of the highest order. He does not need to invite me to join. If I want to, I will, if not, I won’t. But in the meantime, there is no harm exchanging views with them,” he said.

He had recently attended Kita’s grand launch here and described it as a “beautiful party launched by a beautiful man”.

“Like I said, I will continue my fight through a new NGO. I am still waiting for the blueprint and then I will do some networking and move on the ground to help people,” he said.

The vocal MP had kicked off his tirade against the Anwar-Azmin leadership 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 criticisms against Anwar and Azmin.

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.

He has also continually taunted Anwar for “failing to walk the talk”, claiming that the veteran leader’s only ambition was to take over Putrajaya and ensure a cushy position for Azmin.

Gobalakrishnan joins several other leaders who have also left the party ranks, citing loss of confidence in the leadership.

They include Zaid, 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, as with Gobalakrishnan also from Kedah, was sacked from PKR after he faced the disciplinary board last year for crossing swords with the leadership over the “Allah” row.

PKR now has 24 seats in Parliament, a drop from 31 seats won in the 2008 general election.

No tears shed for ‘racist’ Gobala

PKR claims that its former Padang Serai MP is trapped in a racial mindset, and his departure from the party is a welcome development.

PETALING JAYA: PKR has denounced Padang Serai MP and former party stalwart N Gobalakrishnan as a “racist”.

Party commnications director Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad said that many ex-leaders had accused the party of sidelining certain races but these people were trapped in racist mindsets.

“It is appropriate that leaders such as Gobala, who is still trapped in the old mentality, to leave the party. The rakyat will judge him in the next election and PKR will continue to move forward as a progressive multiracial party,” he said in a press statement.

Nik Nazmi also compared Gobalakrishnan to Kulim Bandar Baru MP Zulkifli Noordin, who accused PKR of betraying the Malays.

He added that the Padang Serai MP only aired his views after he was defeated in the race for vice-presidency in the recent party election.

Despite being a once PKR loyalist and diehard supporter of party supremo Anwar Ibrahim, Gobalakrishnan quit the party on Saturday, citing differences with the leadership.

He also claimed that the party was not paying attention to its Indian members.

The Padang Serai MP was first seen incessantly attacking the party – particularly deputy president Azmin Ali – after lawyer N Surendran was appointed as vice-president.

Annoyed by his criticisms, the party slapped him with a 45-page show-cause letter.

Gobalakrishnan’s resignation also prompted his former comrades to demand that he quit as an MP as well.

Meanwhile, the PKR communications director also disputed Gobalakrishnan’s claim that the party leadership was racially unbalanced.

Gobalakrishnan had previously alleged that although Indians made up 40% of PKR’s membership, its leaders, however, were 90% Malay.

However, Nik Nazmi said that this statement could not be further from the truth.

“From PKR’s 371,612 members, Malays form 45%, Chinese 11%, Indians 23%, Sabah and Sarawak Bumiputera and others 21%.

“At the same time, the central leadership council for 2010 to 2013 consists of Malays 62%, Chinese 20%, Indians 12%, Sabah and Sarawak Bumiputera and others 4%,” he said.

Anwar, Gobala tiff continues in tweet-fight

SHAH ALAM: PKR de facto leader Anwar Ibrahim said he had long expected that Padang Serai MP N Gobalakrishnan would leave the party.

“He has left, it’s all right. Let us continue,” he said when asked to comment on Gobalakrishan’s resignation from the party and relinquishing all posts that he was holding in the PKR yesterday.

He said this after attending a function, here today.

He also said that Gobalakrishnan had previously not responded to a show-cause letter sent to him by the party last month for criticising the top party leadership.

Anwar said that he and the party had not received any official letter from Gobalakrishnan on his resignation, and party secretary-general Saifuddin Nasution Ismail had asked Gobalakrishnan to give clarification because he had merely announced his decision on the twitter yesterday.

He also said that Gobalakrishnan had not informed him of his intention and the last time the PKR adviser met him was in Parliament.

Low intelligence level

Anwar also used micro-blogging site Twitter to lash out at Gobalakrishnan, whom he labelled as “bebalisme” without making any direct reference to the former PKR man.

He described the term as someone with “low intelligence level, does not know how to have a discourse, tends to spread lies and shows off his stupidity”.

Anwar’s tweet sparked a quick rebuke from Gobalakrishnan who lashed out at the former for repeating lies to the public.

He also claimed that Anwar had under-performed as the Selangor economic adviser with the state being the most corrupt in the country.

“Anwar as economic adviser corruption highest in Sgor. Will lose state if reform within not done. Visit councillors every district. AI (Anwar Ibrahim) even control sand,” he tweeted.

Gobalakrishnan’s tweets prompted others to jump in to ask Anwar to respond, to which the party supremo claimed that Gobalakrishnan’s attacks were due to him being overlooked for a position in the party.

Anwar claimed that Gobalakrishnan was upset that N Surendran was appointed as a PKR vice-president.

Nothing to do with party post

When contacted, Gobalakrishnan said his criticism against the party was not due to being overlooked for the vice-president’s post.

“Did I ever lobby to Anwar for the position? You can ask Anwar,” he said.

He added that it was not wrong for Anwar to appoint “Surendran – a professional” but he claimed that the latter was not even a party member.