By Syed Jaymal Zahiid - The Malaysian Insider
PENANTI, May 25 — Independent candidate Aminah Abdullah claimed today her former party had tried to bribe her by offering the Penang deputy chief minister post, adding she has an audio recording to back her allegations.
Aminah claimed two top PKR leaders came to her house a few weeks back to persuade her to rejoin the party, saying she would be given the post should she win the Penanti state seat.
The two leaders, one a special officer to a PKR executive councillor for the Penang state government and the other, a state level party supreme council member had also offered her the top post with the Penang Municipal Council but with the condition that she withdraw from contesting, claimed Aminah.
Aminah is one of three independents facing PKR’s Dr Mansor Othman in the by-election on May 31, called after incumbent Mohammad Fairus Khairuddin quit the seat and his DCM post under a cloud of graft allegations.
Fairus has been cleared of all charges and is said to be pursuing further studies. The Barisan Nasional (BN) has opted out of the contest claiming Fairus’s reasons to quit were flippant.
PKR strategy director and Batu MP Tian Chua had dismissed bribery claims, challenging those who made the allegations to lodge reports with the authorities.
Aminah claimed PKR de facto leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim was fully aware of the meetings.
“They also offered me RM80,000 worth of compensation and to return the deposit money but I have no intention of accepting the offer as I am a person of principles,” she said.
When asked for the name of the two leaders, Aminah refused to name them, saying the people will know their identity once they listen to the audio recording.
The three hour audio recording is available in a compact disc Aminah had prepared for the mass media. Also available are pictures of the implicated figures.
”My family members had done everything (recording and pictures). We did the recording because we know PKR people like to spin and lie,” said Aminah’s husband and campaign aide Mohamad Rofi Osman.
According to him, PKR leaders had met his wife and family three times and that had prompted them to record the conversation between them as proof.
Aminah who is also the former PKR Penang wanita chief said she will submit the proof to the Elections Commission tomorrow.
“The EC is the best body to handle this matter as they are responsible in electoral matters. We hope they will assess the evidence and perhaps take it to the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission,” she said.
Asked why she had not raise the matter on nomination day itself, where it was possible to disqualify PKR candidate Mansor Othman by submitting proof of attempted bribery, Aminah did not give a straight answer and only said that “it is better to do it today.”
Meanwhile, PKR election director Saifuddin Nasution in an immediate response said party lawyers will give her a notice today, demanding she withdraw and apologise for her allegations.
“We would have to listen to the recording first before we can give any comments,” he told a press conference held at the party’s office here.
No comments:
Post a Comment